Fire that broke out at a warehouse storing decorative material near RTC crossroads here early on Thursday morning, gutted the warehouse and two neighbouring shops, however, there were no casualties. In another fire accident on Wednesday night a tyre godown in Vanasthalipuram area was gutted.
Minister for Animal Husbandry Talsani Srinivas Yadav, who visited the spot along with Musheerabad MLA Mutha Gopal on Thursday afternoon to review the firefighting operation, warned the traders and warehouse managers that action will be taken against those found flouting the fire safety norms. He also said that a high-level meeting was held on measures to be taken to prevent such accidents and that a wide campaign is being prepared to create awareness among the people about the importance of fire safety.
According to the Fire department officials no casualties or injuries have been reported in the accident at RTC Crossroads and it took 13 fire tenders about six hours to extinguish the fire. The fire that started in the warehouse of MS decorations works spread to the two adjacent shops and damaged the furniture and other materials inside, Inspector of Chikkadpally Police N. Sanjay Kumar said.
“The other two buildings — the office of Suguna Metals and an electronic store named Big Apple — were gutted in the mishap. While MS decoration is owned by Ravinder Singh Sarna and Jasvinder Singh, Suguna metals is owned by Bharath Kumar and Ankit Agarwal owns the electronic store. The total property loss was estimated to be around ₹50-60 lakh. With the help of firefighting teams and Disaster Management teams we were successful in extinguishing the fire and it was put off by 10 a.m.,” the Police Inspector added.
It took couple of hours for clearing the debris. Senior officers have visited the place and the cause of the fire is yet to be established, the Inspector said, adding that a case was registered at Chikkadpally Police Station and investigation launched.
Early in the day, mild tension prevailed in the densely populated residential area as thick smoke from the mishap created panic among the locals.
Officials from the Fire department said that following a distress call at 5.47 a.m. on Thursday, seven fire tenders were rushed to the warehouse from the nearby Fire stations to douse the flames. “However, as the smoke continued to gush out of the place, six more fire tenders were rushed to tackle the situation. The warehouse stores decorative materials and the cause of fire is suspected to be an electrical short circuit,” officials said.
The residents of the nearby localities in Musheerabad woke up in a panic with the smoke being visible from a large distance from the mishap site. Several social media posts were shared with the netizens noting how frequently the city has been witnessing fire mishaps.
“The thick smoke in the sky reminded me of the horrific incident at the Minster Road in January. Being a densely populated residential area, a lot of families panicked and started following the news to keep track of the developments. I called up the local police station to ask if we should be on alert and was assured that it was being controlled by the Fire department and that there is nothing to worry for those in the vicinity,” said Nithin Raj, a private employee who resides two lanes away from the place of mishap.
The Fire department officials noted that, another fire mishap was reported at a tyre godown in Auto Nagar area of Vanasthalipuram on Wednesday night. “We received a distress call at 10.08 p.m. on Wednesday. Four fire tenders were rushed to the spot and it took them about three hours to douse the flames. The cause of fire is suspected to be an electrical short circuit,” Hayathnagar Station Fire Officer B. Sreenaiah said.
