A fire that broke out at a warehouse in the city’s business hub in the wee hours of Sunday destroyed nearly half the building. The flame was not fully brought under control even eighteen hours after it was reported in spite of 30 fire tenders being pressed into service.
“No casualties”
“No casualties have been reported in the incident, but the fire has still not been controlled,” said a source at the Fire and Emergency Services department said.
Although the cause of the fire is still unknown, it broke out on the second-floor of the three storey colonial structure at 2:30 a.m. On being asked why it was taking so long to bring the fire under control, a senior official of the department said: “the building had no proper fire protection facility. Much of the structure comprised of wooden planks.”
Highly combustible material including tyres, chemicals, PVC pipes were stockpiled inside the building which also had wooden staircases. Several gas cylinders also burst as the fire spread, making the task difficult for the firemen, he added.
