Major fire at jute godown in Domjur, no casualties

A fire broke out at a jute godown in Howrah's Domjur triggering panic among the local residents.

The local residents found smoke billowing out of the jute godown situated in the congested area and tried to douse the flame. The incident took place at around 1 am on Sunday night. They failed to enter the room of the godown that had caught fire as the area was soon covered by thick black smoke.

Five fire tenders were pressed into action to douse the flame. The fire spread to the adjacent building as the godown is situated in a congested area. However, there was no report of any damage to the adjacent two buildings. People living in the adjacent buildings panicked after they found that the jute godown had caught fire. Some of the local residents from the adjacent building fled from their houses when the fire started spreading from the godown.

The local residents alleged that fire tenders reached the spot late. They alleged that the fire would not have spread to the adjacent buildings if the fire engines would have arrived on time. The fire tenders had faced difficulties in reaching the spot as the godown was situated in the congested area. The fire fighters brought the situation under control at around at around 5 am. There was no report of any casualty in the incident, however. The godown was, however, completely damaged in the fire. The materials and goods that were stocked inside the godown were completely gutted in the fire. Police said that the godown was shut at the time of the incident. The employees had left their work place at around 10 pm on Sunday. The locals spotted the blaze a little while after midnight.

According to the preliminary investigation, the fire officials suspect that an electrical short circuit might have caused the fire. The exact cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are yet to be ascertained by the fire officials. The fire officials and police are investigating if there was any firefighting equipment fitted in the godown and a proper license. Police said that one Azizul Hoque is the owner of the godown. Police are also verifying the documents to ascertain if the godown was running with valid papers. Police will interrogate the owner of the godown in this connection.

In a separate incident, a godown of a tea garden in Jalpaiguri caught fire late on Sunday night creating panic among the local residents. Three fire tenders brought the fire under control. No casualty was reported. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are yet to be ascertained.