20160406 India Three shops in W Tambaram gutted as fire rages for 7 hrs
India Apr 05 2016 “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Three shops in W Tambaram gutted as fire rages for 7 hrs
Updated: 2016-04-06-00:17
A major fire destroyed three shops on Ramasamy Road in West Tambaram on Tuesday.
The blaze, which the explosion of an LPG cylinder sparked at 2.40pm, resisted the efforts of dozens of firemen and 18 fire tenders attempting to douse it and continued to rage for more than seven hours in the crowded and narrow lane.
Police officers and firefighters confirmed that there were no casualties but said the losses from the fire could be very high. The owners of the establishments are yet to estimate the damage.
A police officer said the fire broke when an employee of a private LPG supplier was refilling a cooking gas cylinder on the first floor of a building. It rapidly spread to a store that sold electronics goods on the ground floor and to two adjoining stores, one that sold plastic items and the other clothing material, on largely residential Ramasamy Road, off Mudichur Main Road.
The first fire tenders arrived at the spot around 3pm. Several others soon joined them as officers of the fire and rescue services department deployed more men and equipment to douse the blaze. After battling for hours, the firefighters were visibly exhausted. One of them collapsed in sheer fatigue while holding a hose firing pressurised water at the blaze. Hundreds of people and passersby descended on the area and police had to cordon off the road leading to the shops for their safety and to allow the firemen to continue their job.
A resident of the locality, S Nagaraj, said the authorities should be held responsible for the blaze as they allowed commercial establishments in a residential locality. “Civic agencies don’t care about potential hazards,” he said. “Thankfully there are no causalities.”
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Three-shops-in-W-Tambaram-gutted-as-fire-rages-for-7-hrs/articleshow/51705369.cms