Chowringhee: Firefighters reached Jeevan Sudha building on Thursday morning with two hydraulic ladders. Only one of the ladders could make it into the compound. The other, the more sophisticated one, remained stationed outside on JL Nehru Road. Eventually, neither of the ladders could be used.

The first ladder reached the building around 10.50am. By then, the fire was raging across the 16th floor and firefighters needed to reach its vicinity with water jets.

But there was no way the ladder could be moved close to the building because a tin shed propped up on iron bars - allegedly built illegally - was blocking the pathway.

"After our attempts to squeeze the ladder past the makeshift structure failed, we decided to demolish the shed," said an officer of Shakespeare Sarani police station.

The need of the hour was a payloader and one that was stationed inside an under-construction building in the vicinity was brought in for the demolition job.

"We lost precious minutes in removing the illegal structure. What was worse was that we realised only then that even without the shed, the pathway was not wide enough for the ladder to be mounted. The entire exercise did not serve any purpose," said a firefighter.

The other ladder that had been brought in was a Bronto.

Purchased for Rs 10 crore several years ago, this skylift can reach at least 28 floors, said an officer in the fire department. It can be used for both firefighting and rescue operations.

On Thursday, this giant lift was of no use either as there was not enough space around the building for it to be opened, said a firefighter.

"The Bronto stands on levers and needs a lot of space to unfold and start working. There was not enough space inside the compound of Jeevan Sudha for it to be used," said an officer of the fire department.