Property worth lakhs destroyed in fire

Property worth lakhs of rupees was gutted after a fire broke out in a building at New Osmangunj Market in Begum Bazar on Tuesday morning triggering panic among the local residents and shopkeepers. Fortunately, no casualties were reported in the incident.Flames erupted from Pooja Card Centre store located in Risallah Abdullah on the ground floor of a four-storied building and spread to the first, second and third floors where shops and godowns were located.

Three fire tenders from Gowliguda, Assembly, Musheerabad were rushed to the spot after receiving a call around 8 am.Even as fire-fighters struggled to douse the blaze, smoke engulfed the building making it difficult to go inside. Inflammable material like wedding cards, decoration items, and other articles were stocked in the shop. Fire-fighters had to rope in a few more fire tenders from Moghalpura and Chandulal Baradari to protect the adjoining buildings from fire as inflammable material were stocked in the second and third floors.

With the help of shopkeepers, the paper-made material and decoration items were shifted to a safer place.The owner said that the shop was on fire by the time he reached the place to open his shop. Fire tenders, who immediately rushed to the spot, put-off the flames within four hours, according to the police.

Short circuit is suspected to have caused the fire in the night in the shop which consequently spread to the other floors. There are several other such shops in the market. “Strict instructions were given to initiate safety measures in market areas, but till date, nothing has been taken care of,” Gowliguda fire officer J Rajkumar said, adding that since much of the fire blazed inside the narrow lanes and the full strength of water hoses could not be utilised.