Fire at Gariahat garment store

Kolkata: A major fire broke out at the Traders Assembly building in Gariahat on Saturday night. The hawkers' stalls located on the footpath in front of the building on Rashbehari Avenue were gutted. Several shops inside the building were also damaged. As many as 19 fire tenders managed to douse the flames after almost 12 hours. No casualty has been reported yet.

State Fire minister Sujit Bose and other officials alleged that there was no fire fighting management system installed in the building. On Sunday, state Power minister Sobhandeb Chatterjee and Mayor Firhad Hakim paid a visit to inspect.

According to locals, late on Saturday night, at around 12:30 am, some locals heard an explosion. When they ran to its source, they saw the ground floor of the Traders Assembly building on fire. Immediately, they alerted the residents of the building. Police and fire brigade were informed. Meanwhile, some firefighters started dousing the flames where a few others worked jointly with the police to evacuate the occupants of the building. Soon, the fire spread to the other floors.

Primarily, five fire tenders were pressed in to action. But later 14 more fire tenders were sent. As the shops inside the building and hawker stalls on the footpath were filled with inflammable materials like garments, the fire spread quickly. To control it, a hydraulic ladder was brought. Also some firefighters sprayed water on the building from the Gariahat flyover. A thermal imaging camera was brought in to locate pocket fires and to find if anybody was trapped inside or not.

It is alleged that the fire occurred from the Traders Assembly shop itself. But its officials alleged that the fire occurred from the stalls which are located on the footpath. Upon receiving the news, Sujit Bose and Director General (Fire) Jag Mohan went to the spot at night. Later, Bose expressed his anger and stated that there was no fire fighting management system installed in the building. He maintained: "The incident may have turned worse. Enough is enough. Stern action will be taken. We do not have any problem if anyone does business maintaining the rules and regulations of the Fire Services Act and follows the precautions."

According to Mohan, it is suspected that the fire might have occurred due to short circuit. Mohan also claimed that he came to know that no fire fighting system was existing there. Later on Sunday afternoon, forensic experts visited the spot and collected samples to examine them to identify the source of the fire.

"No fire safety system was there. We will act as per the provisions of the law," said Mohan.