Hyderabad: Two major fire mishaps in city

Hyderabad: City witnessed two major fire accidents on Wednesday. In the first case a Philips warehouse at Rani Gunj was gutted into flames due to a short circuit. The passersby witnessed thick smoke billowing from the warehouse alerted the fire department. Upon receiving the information, one fire tender was rushed to the spot, upon severity four more tenders were pushed in to douse the flames.

An official from the fire department said, "The fire erupted in the warehouse due to an electrical short circuit as the godown had lots of plastic material, the fire spread rapidly. However, it was contained after a lot of struggle. Also, the most important part that our fire department officers did was to stop the fire from spreading to other buildings, if not it would have been a major disaster."

In the second case, the tax section of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Secunderabad, located on the third floor of the building was gutted into flames and all the records, electronic items were damaged to the core. V Papaiah, the Regional Fire Officer (RFO), visited the site and said, "We are suspecting that the accident occurred due to an electrical short circuit and by the time the fire spread many employees were still on third floor and few were struck in the lift.

But, our officers along with the Disaster Response Force (DRF) officials rescued the employees to safety and none was hurt in the accident. Also, some of the employees ran to the terrace for rescue, they were brought down with the help of crane." "Three fire tenders rushed to the spot and it took more than 2 hours to douse the flames. But by the time the fire was doused the material in the tax department was burnt to the core. The loss is not yet estimated," added the officer.