A massive fire broke out in the heart of Central Kolkata on Wednesday, January 14. Several furniture shops in BB Ganguly Street caught fire. Ten fire engines rushed to the spot to extinguish the blaze. The sky was covered in thick black smoke due to the massive fire. Panic spread among local residents and business owners.
There are several furniture and plywood shops on BB Ganguly Street in North Kolkata. On Wednesday, a fire was spotted in one of these shops. According to initial reports, there were employees and others inside the shop at the time. The fire spread rapidly. Locals tried to extinguish the fire and informed the police and fire department. However, the fire quickly spread to the surrounding areas. The raging flames engulfed two adjacent furniture shops. All three shops were ablaze. The entire area was covered in black smoke.
The employees quickly evacuated the shops. The police and fire department were informed. The area surrounding the shops is densely populated with residential buildings. Residents of a building next to the shops claimed that the fire had spread to their building as well. Due to the congested nature of the area, firefighters faced difficulties in controlling the fire.
Understanding the gravity of the situation, 10 fire engines arrived at the scene. Efforts were made to quickly extinguish the fire. The area is quite congested, with multi-story buildings and numerous shops nearby. There were concerns that the situation would become much more complicated if the fire spread further. Firefighters focused on preventing the fire from spreading. The police cordoned off the area, and locals were moved to a safe distance. Traffic on the busy Kolkata street was also temporarily stopped. After some time, the fire was brought under control.
How did the fire break out?
The fire department suspects that a short circuit caused the fire. The shops contained furniture, wooden items, plastic materials, and other flammable substances. As a result, the fire spread rapidly. The fire also spread to the two adjacent shops, which contained similar materials. Consequently, the fire began to get bigger. The extent of the damage to those shops is being assessed.
An employees of the shop where the fire started said, “We were doing carpentry work. Suddenly, we saw smoke coming out from inside the shop. At first, we got scared and ran outside. Later, we saw a tin section on the roof of the shop burning fiercely. A few of us tried to put out the fire. Others brought the furniture out of the shop.” However, the cause of the fire is still unknown. It is initially believed that the fire may have been caused by a short circuit.
Questions are also being raised about whether the shops had adequate fire safety measures. However, the shops contained many flammable materials, including wood, plastic, paints and chemicals. Therefore, the fire spread rapidly. Some locals complained that the fire brigade failed to control the fire quickly enough, causing it to spread further. However, according to the fire department, the shops were crammed with various goods. For this reason, it was not possible to spray water with the fire hoses effectively.
Recent fire incidents in Kolkata
On the evening of January 7, a fire broke out in the Matangini Colony slum in Nonadanga, Anandapur. Several houses in the slum were gutted by the fire. Seven fire engines were dispatched to the scene to bring the fire under control. The very next day, two fires broke out in the city. Last Thursday morning, a fire broke out in a multi-story building in New Town. Firefighters faced difficulties controlling the fire because the stairwell leading to the upper floors was blocked. On the same day, another fire broke out in the Bhutia Market in Wellington in afternoon.