A fire broke out inside a flat in a posh high-rise society in Noida on Thursday morning apparently due to a blast in an air conditioner in the house, officials said.

There were no casualties in the incident that took place at Lotus Boulevard society in Sector 100, they said.

The fire which comes amid a scorching heatwave in North India, led to panic among the residents. People in the nearby flats rushed to the ground as heavy smoke billowed from the affected flat.

Chief Fire Officer Pradeep Kumar Choubey said locals and society residents alerted the fire service unit about the incident in the flat on the 10th floor of the building at 10.10 am.

“We immediately rushed five vehicles (water tenders) to the spot. But before our vehicles could reach there, the firefighting systems installed in the society managed to put out the fire within 10 minutes,” he said.

“The fire was triggered by a blast in the AC (air conditioner). Since the firefighting systems like sprinklers, extinguishers, hoses, were working fine, the fire did not spread out much and was contained in one room (of the flat),” Choubey said, adding that there was no loss of life or injury to any person in the episode.

Videos on social media showed heavy smoke billowing from the apartment in one of the residential towers of the society.

An “AC blast” generally refers to an explosion or fire involving an air conditioning (AC) unit. Such incidents can occur due to various factors, often related to electrical or mechanical failures, according to officials.