Kolkata: Two separate incidents of fire took place in the city on Saturday afternoon with no casualties or injuries being reported.
A fire broke out at the second floor of an old two-storeyed building on Elliot Road on Saturday triggering panic among the residents of the building at the time of the incident. Five fire tenders were pressed into action and the situation was brought under control after nearly two hours.
Some of the locals spotted smoke billowing out of a room situated on the second floor of the building that lacked any fire fighting mechanism. The matter was immediately reported to the fire brigade. The fire fighters initially faced difficulties to spot the source as thick black smoke had already covered the area. Senior police officers also rushed to the spot.
The traffic movement through Elliot Road was restricted for a couple of hours. A disaster management team also swung into action to bring the situation under control.
According to the police, the second floor of the building houses a few private offices. The employees fled the building after a fire alarm was triggered by the locals. According to preliminary investigation, the fire officials suspect that the old building had no fire safety mechanism in place and steps will be taken against the owners if any lapses are found. The cause of the fire and extent of the damage are yet to be ascertained.
In another incident, a fire broke out from the meter box of a multi-storeyed building on Sambhunath Pandit Street on Saturday afternoon. Three fire tenders extinguished the flames which might have been caused due to an electrical short circuit. A probe has been initiated.