Hyderabad, May 12: A major fire broke out in a tent material godown in the congested Khaja Nagar locality of Masab Tank on Tuesday reducing property worth lakhs of rupees to ashes. Though there was no loss of human life, the mishap created panic among the locals who feared the fire might spread to the houses in the neighbourhood.
The fire, which broke out in the afternoon, was razing till reports last came in.
It was around 2.30 pm when workers in the godown of Grand suppliers and facilitators noticed smoke in the godown. The company is into supplying function hall materials and locals said they used to cater to star hotels.
“Around five workers came out running and screaming that the godown caught fire,” Nayeem, who runs Naaz kirana store opposite the godown, told expresso.
Locals and the workers initially tried to put out the flames by pouring water into the godown through windows but that did not help. As the fire turned into an inferno, the tin roof caved in and a portion of the wall collapsed on a car parked adjacent to the building.
Police and fire tenders rushed to the spot and started the fire-fighting exercise. “Get water from your homes and pour it on the fire. We will make alternate arrangements to supply water to you later,” a senior police official requested the locals who immediately responded by dropping bucketfuls of water from rooftops but the fire was too big from them to control.
Though 11 fire tenders were rushed to the spot only a couple of them could actually reach the mishap spot due to congested lanes. The other tenders were positioned at far off places and water was pumped through hose pipes.
Dozens of water tankers of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board made rounds filling water into the fire tenders.
“Cloth material and bamboo were stored in huge quantities in the godown. Fire spread to them fast and with the tin roof collapsing on the material, it became difficult for us to extinguish the flames,” a fire official said.
By evening, bulldozers were used to pull down the compound wall and the partiallydamaged walls of the godown to make way for fire-fighting operations. Power supply went off in the locality as some electricity wires got damaged in the fire.
Though the godown management claimed that property worth several crores was stored inside, officials said they are yet to ascertain the loss of property and also the cause of fire.
Efforts were being made to remove the tin roof to get proper access to the site when reports came in last.
—Agencies