20160420 India Fire engulfs 8 shops at Azad Chowk
India Apr 19 2016 “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire engulfs 8 shops at Azad Chowk
Updated: 2016-04-20-08:10
Eight shops at Azad Chowk, mostly wood marts, were turned to ashes in the inferno that started in the wee hours of Tuesday. Shop owners claimed they had suffered losses to the tune of about Rs 50 lakh due to the fire.
The incident has covered an area of about two acres with a thick charcoal layer. The shops – Nikhat Furniture, Bombay Plywood, National Furniture, Syed Merchant and some scrap dealers’ shops – were reduced into ashes.
Officials said the fire broke out in one of the shops in Azad Chowk at 2.30 am on Tuesday. Firemen, police, locals and others toiled for eight hours to extinguish the fire.
Fire brigade officials said they received a call at 2.35am and within no time, six fire tenders from Bansilalnagar fire brigade office and an equal number of fire tenders from the Cidco office were rushed to the spot. The fire tenders were followed by 7-8 water tankers apart from one fire tender each from the Garware Company and the Chikalthana airport.
The flames were extinguished around at 6am. Timely action by the fire brigade saved scores of houses situated in the vicinity of the wood mart and other shops. No casualty has been reported in the incident.
The owner of the shopping complex, Haji Shabbir Khan, said he woke up after feeling the intense heat from the fire sometime post-midnight and alerted others. The information of the fire was passed on to the fire brigade as it was fast spreading.
The Jinsi police have registered a case of accidental fire, while the fire brigade authorities said a short circuit in either of the shops may be the cause of the fire.
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/aurangabad/Fire-engulfs-8-shops-at-Azad-Chowk/articleshow/51903504.cms