Fire breaks out at car godown in Panagarh

A fire broke out at a car godown at Panagarh in Burdwan which is situated close the airbase triggering panic in the locality.

The incident took place at around 4 am on Thursday. The local people spotted smoking billowing out of the godown with the surrounding area soon covered under thick smoke. Seven fire tenders were pressed into action to douse the flame. As the area was densely populated, the fire tenders faced some problems to reach the spot of the incident.

Panic soon spread among the local residents who started evacuating the place apprehending that their houses might catch fire. After being informed, the police reached the spot and started evacuating the entire area to prevent any injuries. Local people said that as the incident took place early in the morning, the people came to know about the incident pretty late. Police found that there were no employees at the godown when it caught fire. The extent of the damage would have been much less, if the incident had taken place in the broad daylight.

Police said that the godown situated at Kabadi Patti area caught fire late Wednesday night. As the area was densely populated tension ran high among the local residents. The fire fighters also suffered some problems while extinguishing the fire as the area was covered with thick smoke. The fire fighters brought the situation under control after an effort for nearly five hours.

There was no report of any casualty in the incident. The fire department officials, however, said that many cars and equipments were destroyed in the fire. Though, they are yet to ascertain the exact cause of the fire and the extent of the damage. The preliminary investigation reveals that an electrical short circuit might have caused the fire.

Police and the fire department officials are also investigating whether the godown had adequate fire fighting mechanism and the fire safety rules were maintained. Police have started a probe and interrogated the owner and the employees of the godown.