Fire at Burrabazar building, 22 tenders pressed into action

A major fire broke out in a residential-cum-commercial apartment situated in a congested area behind Burrabazar police station on Monday night. As many as 22 fire tenders were pressed into service and the firefighters continued action till late midnight.

The state fire minister, Sovan Chatterjee, visited the spot and assured that all sorts of steps would be taken by the fire and emergency department to douse the flames. He further said that no firefighting arrangements have been made in these buildings despite repeated notices.

According to an officer of the state Fire and Emergency Services department, the fire seems have broken in the flat that was almost turned into a godown of inflammable goods due to electric short circuit. The fire spread fast to the adjacent rooms situated in the ground floor of the building. Panic broke out as there were people residing in the other floors of the building.

Initially, five fire tenders were pressed into service. Later, 17 more fire tenders were pressed after the fire started spreading fast to the adjacent godowns housed in the same building.

Firefighters faced difficulty to reach to the spot as the building is situated in a narrow lane. However, they managed to initiate action as the state government has introduced a system to undertake firefighting in a narrow lanes. Long hose pipes were laid to take water upto the affected building.

Officers of the Disaster Management Group initiated the work to rescue the trapped residents of the building. They tried their level best to evacuate the building as the fire was spreading fast.

Senior officers of the fire department were also present at the spot. The area was cordoned off and it led to traffic congestion as vehicular movement on two important thoroughfares of the area was restricted. Police were deployed to control the mob gathered outside the building and the police were deployed on Rabindra Sarani and Mahatma Gandhi Road who were diverting traffic.

An officer of the fire department said that though initially it seems that electric short circuit led to the fire, a probe will be carried out to ascertain the exact cause behind the fire. The total extent of damage due to the fire is yet to be ascertained.