Major fire breaks out at garment godown in Howrah

Kolkata: A major fire broke out at a storeroom packed with garments off Foreshore Road in Howrah at around 12.30 am on Sunday. Ten fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames. Firefighters took around six long hours to douse the flames.

Locals saw smoke billowing out of the huge storeroom situated close to the bank of river Hooghly and informed the state Fire and Emergency Services department.

Locals initiated the work to douse the flames. Fire fighters took the minimum time to reach the spot and initiated the work properly to extinguish the fire. An officer of the state Fire and Emergency Services department said the exact reason behind the fire could not be ascertained yet. But they are suspecting electric short circuit led to the incident.

The officer further said the storeroom is situated close to the river bank. As a result, a gush of wind from the river side prompted the fire to spread fast and it spread to the entire go down within a short span of time.

It also made the task difficult for the firefighters. The fire fighters took necessary steps and restricted the flames from spreading to the adjacent structures. They worked the entire night and doused the flames by 6 am in morning. Locals, who witnessed the incident, said the situation turned worse when the roof over a portion of the godown collapsed.

The fire fighters had managed to enter the storeroom after bringing the situation under control and they searched inside the storeroom to become sure that there was no one inside. Police confirmed that there was no one inside the storeroom as it was a Sunday. The entire godown was gutted but the total extend of damage is yet to be ascertained. The fire department officials are trying to ascertain whether there was proper fire fighting measures in the storeroom.