One of the fire-damaged rooms at Writers’ Buildings. A Telegraph picture

Fire officials blamed last Thursday’s blaze at Writers’ Buildings on the poor quality of electrical wires.

The wires did not have proper insulation, said an official. As some of the computers, photocopiers and fax machines were kept “on” overnight, heat kept building through the wires, causing the insulation to melt.

With the insulation gone, short-circuit leading to a fire was only a matter of time, the official said.

The fire that scarred large parts of the third floor of E block might have originated from the law cell of the municipal affairs department. It spread through the wires and soon reached the plywood cubicles of the fire services department.

“It appears the wires were not up to the mark. As the heat kept rising, the insulation gradually melted. We will suggest immediate overhauling of the wiring in most of the departments,” said Gopal Bhattacharya, the director of the fire and emergency services. “We would like to know if the wires were of the ISI standard.”

Bhattacharya is on the eight-member panel the governnment has set up to probe the circumstances leading to the blaze and suggest measures to boost the fire-fighting preparedness of Writers’.

Fire officials said their theory would stand vindicated after the forensic report arrived. Forensic experts, who have ruled out chances of sabotage, have collected wire samples.

The fire officials’ statement brought under the scanner the role of the babus who do not bother to switch off the gadgets before leaving office and the guards who are supposed to check whether all machines have been turned off after office hours. “These guards have been hired to keep an eye on the computers, photocopiers and fax machines,” said an estate department official.