20190529 14 fire tenders battle Park Circus wood hub inferno for three hours
India May 29 2019 “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
14 fire tenders battle Park Circus wood hub inferno for three hours
Updated: 2019–05–30
KOLKATA: Several shops encroaching on the pavement along railway tracks on Rifle Range Road in Park Circus were gutted in a on Wednesday afternoon.
The fire turned into a huge blaze within minutes as the shops were crammed with bamboo poles, plywood and other wooden material, which are highly combustible in nature. Fourteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot to fight the flames for over three hours to bring it under control.
The actual cause of fire could not be determined. It will be known only after a forensic examination, senior officials said. The place is locally known as kathgola due to the cluster of shops selling wooden materials like bamboo poles, plywood and other such material.
Thick smoke billowing from the blaze could be spotted from from as far as the highrises near Ruby and Science City. Train services on the route were suspended for some time due to lack of visibility and fear of the fire spreading further.
Local councillor Nibedita Sharma said the shops had been encroaching upon the place — opposite Adi Ballygunge Vidyalaya at the tri junction of Tiljala Road, Rifle Range Road and Shamsul Huda Road — for several decades. Sharma who visited the spot said that the illegal shops had existed for several decades. “Even earlier nobody took any initiative to remove them. We have not done anything either,” she admitted.
Police had to suspend vehicle movement on several thoroughfares like Park Circus Connector, Syed Amir Ali Avenue and Rifle Range Road to provide passage to fire tenders to reach the spot and facilitate the rescue operation.
Nobody was trapped or hurt in the fire, but the smoke billowing from the inferno triggered panic among residents of the area. “I was shocked when the entire place was filled with thick, black smoke. We could not understand what was happening. When we rushed out, we saw the entire kathgola area going up in flames,” said Mohammad Rakib who works in Hakim manzil, the building situated almost next to the kathgola.
Several locals alleged that fire tenders arrived late and many of them did not have water. Senior fire department officials said that fire engines faced difficulty in accessing the spot due to congested roads.
“The blaze spread so fast due to the presence of wooden material in high quantity. In such a situation, it was difficult to douse the fire quickly. Fourteen tenders struggled for over three hours to bring the blaze under control. We had to be very cautious as there was a railway track on one side and a congested residential neighbourhood on the other side. We had to contain the fire within a specific area before trying to douse it. Such shops are unsafe for the local residents,” said a senior fire department official.
Vehicular movement slowed down on Park Circus Connector and Syed Amir Ali Avenue as cops diverted vehicles through other routes. Traffic had to be stopped to give passage to fire tenders and disaster management groups of the Kolkata Police. “The place is nestled between important thoroughfares which led to traffic jam on park Circus Connector, Syed Amir Ali Avenue and Darga Road,” said a traffic sergeant.
Web Source: The Nation