Residents of B.V.K. Iyengar Road in Chikpete woke up to an ear shattering explosion. An electrical shop on the third floor of a four-storeyed building caught fire in the early hours on Friday.
Due to the impact the explosion, windows and doors of the adjacent building shattered and power supply was disrupted. Seven fire tenders rushed to the spot. After five hours, the fire was put out. Though the entire building was gutted, no one injured in the mishap.
Fire and emergency service personnel had a herculean task as the bye-lanes are narrow and fire tenders could not reach the spot. The rescue team used huge ladders to reach the third floor and douse the fire using hose pipes connected to several metres away.
According to the police, the ground floor of the building is a shop while the three floors are used for godown. The fire broke out in the godown of Maya electrical shop, due to a suspected electrical short circuit. The building and the electrical wiring are both old and this could have caused the short circuit, they added.
However, investigations are on to ascertain the exact cause of the fire. The police are also verifying if the building had a no objection certificate from the fire department.
