LUCKNOW, July 8 -- A family of five had a close shave after a massive fire broke out inside a second floor flat of Akash Apartments, of Vrindavan Yojna (Sector 6), on Rae Bareli Road, in the wee hours of Saturday.

"Two fire tenders from the SGPGI Fire Station were sent to the spot," said FSO Mamchandra Badgujar, Fire Station, SGPGI. "The fire was so massive that we had to call fire units from other stations as well. The excessive smoke on the stairs forced us to enter the flat from the balcony with the help of hydraulic stairs," he added.

According to the FSO, the smoke was more due to the burning of books and papers inside the flat. At that time, the flat owner Anil Kumar Shukla, his wife Vimla, and their children Sahitya, Vaishnavi an...