Fire incidents in city spark tension among residents

Kolkata: Two separate incidents of fire took place in the city on Friday morning.

The first incident took place when a fire broke out on the ground floor of a three-storied building on Shakespeare Sarani around 8 am on Friday. Two fire tenders were pressed into action and the fire was controlled almost after one-and-half hour.

Local people spotted the smoke billowing out of the building and informed the fire brigade. They immediately alerted the occupants of the building and helped them to evacuate the place. The incident triggered tension among the people staying in the adjoining buildings.

According to a fire department official, the fire broke out inside a locked room. The firefighters had to break the lock and opened the shutter. They faced difficulties to enter into the room as it was filled with smoke. Police reached the spot and cordoned off the entire area. The fire was extinguished around 9.30 am. The fire officials took the help of a smoke suction pipe.

According to the preliminary investigation fire and police officials suspect that an electrical short circuit inside the meter box might have caused the fire. A detailed probe has been initiated.

In another incident, a godown situated on the third floor of a building on Old China Bazar Street caught fire around 3.45 pm resulting in panic

among some people in the building. Two fire tenders were immediately swung into action. The fire was brought under control within 45 minutes.

According to the police, none was injured in the incidents.

The exact cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are yet to be ascertained.