Fire breaks out at CESC office at Bengal's Panihati

Kolkata: A devastating fire had broken out at the distribution office of private power-generation-cum-distribution company, CESC Limited, at Panihati in North 24 Paragans district of West Bengal on Sunday.

Although no casualties had been reported at the time the report was filed, the intensity of the fire had been quite massive.

The fire had started spreading and a couple of shanties in the adjacent areas have come under the grip of fire

The intensity of the fire was so massive that the initial fire-fighting attempts by the local people failed completely.

The state fire services department was immediately informed, and four fire-tenders initially reached the spot and started the first fighting exercise on a war-footing.

In due course, five more fire tenders arrived at the spot and joined the firefighting exercise.

At the time the report was filed a total of nine fire-tenders were engaged in the fire-fighting exercise.

"The intensity of the fire is quite massive. So, we have asked for requisition of more fire tenders. They are expected soon. Right now, our attempts are to restrict the fire within that building and prevent it from spreading to the nearby shanties and constructions," a state fire services department present at the spot said.

There is a residential area behind this building.

The firefighters are keeping an eye on it to ensure that the fire does not spread there.

Residents of the slum have been made aware of that by the state fire services department.

Besides water, the firefighters are also using foam to extinguish the fire.

Fire officials are hopeful that they will be able to bring the fire under control at the earliest.

On the other hand, since the building is on busy Barrackpore Trunk Road BT Road, traffic was disrupted on Sunday afternoon because of the fire.

The police are also keeping an eye on the situation in the area.

It is not yet clear how the fire broke out.

However, the initial assumption of the fire department is that a transformer in the CESC building exploded somehow, which caused the fire.

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