Four shops, goods worth crores gutted in godown fire

LUDHIANA: Fire broke out at a complex near Vishwakarma Chowk, comprising three shops and a godown of cycle parts (mostly tubes and tyres). The incident occurred at around 9pm on Wednesday night and the fire safety department took around 16 hours to douse the flames.
As the fire spread to adjacent shops, goods and articles worth crores were gutted. The conflagration is said to have been caused by a short-circuit, said Ramsahaya, who works in one of the shops.
Around 9 pm, when they were locking the shutter in basement, the shop owner flicked the main switch, after which they heard a short circuit in the basement, he said.
The workers tried to use water buckets to douse the flames but failed. The fire brigade reached the spot after around 10 to 15 minutes. Ramsahay said the other two shops were closed, due to which losses spiralled.
Fire safety officer Rajinder Sharma said it was difficult for the fire safety department to douse the flames because of the shutters installed on the side walls of the shops. There were 25 shutters in the entire complex, he said. Firemen had to remove the shutters with the help of a ditch machine and they also made holes in the rear wall of the complex.
Firemen battled the blaze all night. Despite the presence of 12 fire tenders, it took around 16 hours to douse the flames, he said.