Bangalore: A major fire broke out in the
Military Canteen Stores Department building here, gutting
grocery items and household electronic goods.
However, there was no casualty in the fire that was put
out after a three-and-a-half hours battle by two dozen fire
tenders, police said.
The blaze broke out in the second floor of the store that
mainly contained grocery items and household electronic goods.
Military authorities said they were investigating into
the cause of the mishap and the extent of damage.
Fire officials suspected a short-circuit in the lift
could have triggered the blaze. "But, the actual cause of fire
is yet to be ascertained," Chief Fire Officer E U Erappa said.
Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari, who visited the spot,
said the incident would be registered as mishap and probed.
"Things could have gone worse if the floor contained
liquor bottles which fortunately were stored on the ground
floor of the canteen building," Erappa said.
He said since the packaging material had caught fire,
there was a lot of smoke which made access to the spot "very
difficult, taking over three hours to extinguish the fire".
Firefighting mechanism in the building had not been
"maintained" and even the water storage tank was empty, he
added.
Bidari said forensic and technical experts will visit the
spot tomorrow and investigate into the cause of the blaze.
This was the second major fire mishap in the city in the
last one month. Nine persons died in a fire accident in
Carlton Towers commercial complex on February 23.
PTI
