Fire breaks out in cotton godown at Palta

A fire broke out at a cotton godown at Palta area of North 24 Parganas late Wednesday night.

The godown was completely damaged in the incident. Police and fire brigade officials are yet to ascertain the exact cause of the fire. None was reportedly injured in the incident.

The incident had, however, created tension among the local residents. The officials of the godown claimed that goods worth rupees few crore rupees were completely destroyed in the fire.

Six fire-tenders were pressed into action to douse the flames. The local people spotted the smoke billowing out of a room of the godown and informed it to the fire brigade department.

The fire soon spread as a huge amount of inflammable materials was stored in the godown. The local people took part in the rescue operation but they failed as the intensity of the blaze was too high.

A thick black smoke soon covered the air. The fire personnel also faced difficulties in reaching the source of the fire. They had to pull down the wall and sprinkled water.

The fire-fighters brought the situation under control after putting up a fight for a few hours.

A senior official of the godown said that huge amount of cotton was stored at the godown on January 9 and 10. They were supposed to be exported to Bangladesh. According to the official, cotton worth nearly Rs 4 crore was destroyed in the fire.

Police said that the night guard of the godown first spotted the smoke billowing out of a room. He then informed the matter to the fire brigade.

Police and fire department officials are examining if adequate fire safety equipments were installed in the godown.

According to the preliminary investigation, the fire officials suspect that there might be some lapses in the cotton godown. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are yet to be ascertained.