A major fire engulfed first floor of the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority administrative building located at the heart of the city at Siripuram on Monday.
The first and second floors house the Commercial Taxes Department. There were no casualties or injuries but created a tension to officials and workers in the nine-floor building, the tallest government building in the north coastal Andhra.
Three fire tenders rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control. There was panic and all the employees and visitors ran out of the building. District Fire Officer Borra Ramprakash said the fire was confined to first floor of the building only and preliminary cause was assumed to be a short circuit.
He told this correspondent that 40 personnel were deployed and it took them two and a half hours to douse the fire. They broke the window panes of the floor and entered the section where the fire was severe. The teams also visited all the floors of the building to ensure they were safe.
“The VUDA has fire fighting equipment and had the employees used it the fire could not have spread to the entire floor,’’ the fire officer said. Power supply to the building was stopped immediately and people escaped through the staircase and fire exit, he added.
There were 15 employees in the Commercial Taxes Department working on six computers in the old files room where fire broke out.
Assistant commissioner of commercial taxes SV Valli said the fire took place in the old files room close to the meeting hall. All the officials work in the second floor.
“Soon after the fire started, our employees alerted the people working in the remaining floors,’’ Valli said.
