MUMBAI, Nov. 7 -- A fire broke out on the 20th floor of a Ghatkopar East high-rise on Friday evening, leaving three persons injured, and prompting the evacuation of the entire building, including senior citizens and ailing residents. The fire in the residential building - Altreza, in Pantnagar -- which was reported around 8:08 pm, was extinguished by 11:10 pm by the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB). The cause of the fire remains disputed. While preliminary accounts suggest a firecracker entered a joint flat and sparked the blaze, deputy commissioner of police Ganesh Shinde stated a short circuit was responsible. The MFB declared it a Level-I fire at 8:30 pm but subsequently upgraded it to Level-II at 8:52 pm. The injured have been identified as Rajesh Lodaya, 47, and his cousin Nirav Lodaya, 34, and Sainath Awale, 45. Rajesh and Nirav were rushed to Zynova Hospital in Ghatkopar West after suffering suffocation, while Sainath was taken to Rajawadi Hospital, in Ghatkopar East, for treatment of 27% burn injuries. The on-duty medical officer of Rajawadi Hospital said Sainath's condition was stable, while reports on the other two injured at Zynova are awaited. All three injured are residents of Altreza. A stray firecracker sparked the blaze after landing inside a flat, causing panicked residents to flee, said Mumbai chief fire officer Ravindra Ambulgekar. He also noted that a failure in the building's internal firefighting system may have worsened the situation. "Initially, the building's fire-fighting system was not functioning. It functioned when the fire brigade personnel started it. The matter will be investigated," he said. DCP Shinde stated the fire was caused by a short circuit, prompting a full building evacuation and a search operation for trapped occupants. Resident Sachin Pawar noted that the top two floors of the newly certified building were engulfed, questioning why its firefighting systems failed and pointing out that traffic delayed fire tenders by 40 minutes. Ghatkopar lacks its own fire station, forcing engines to travel from Mankhurd, Chembur, and Vikhroli, which severely impacts response times during peak hours. Residents experienced the crisis firsthand: 13th-floor resident Deepak Ghanatra fled with his granddaughter after seeing falling glass shards. Naveen Shah highlighted that illegally parked two-wheelers obstructed evacuation paths and had to be cleared to neighbouring properties. Additionally, Sonal Mehta from an adjacent building reported that the non-functional fire systems hindered rescue efforts, and a large fire ladder arrived nearly an hour late....