Kanpur: Massive fire guts plastic furniture, plywood warehouse; Thick smoketriggers panic

Kanpur, Jun 9 (PTI): A huge fire tore through a plastic furniture and plywood warehouse near Sangeet Talkies in the densely populated Sisamau area on Tuesday, sending thick black smoke up the city's skyline and triggering panic. No casualties were reported. The blaze broke out around noon in a godown in Bhannana Purwa, Chamanganj. Within minutes, flames engulfed large stocks of plastic chairs, furniture and plywood. A column of smoke was seen from nearly two kilometres away. Shopkeepers rushed to move goods out of their stores, fearing damage. Locals said the smoke was so dense that visibility in parts of the area dropped sharply. Nine fire tenders from Latouche Road, Colonelganj, Fazalganj, Mirpur Cantonment and Kidwai Nagar fire stations were rushed, said Chief Fire Officer Deepak Sharma. Firefighters, assisted by police and locals, evacuated people from buildings before launching a large-scale operation to contain the flames, Sharma said. The situation was extremely challenging because of the narrow lanes, intense heat and highly combustible material stored inside the warehouse, the CFO said. "The flames were visible from a long distance and thick smoke had engulfed the area. Our priority was to evacuate people safely and stop the fire from spreading," Sharma said. After nearly three hours of continuous firefighting, officials brought the blaze under control. Cooling operations continued for several hours afterwards. According to officials, the building where the fire started belongs to Faisal, a resident of Faithfulganj. While its first floor was being used as a plywood warehouse, one of the upper floors had recently been rented out to a plastic furniture trader. Locals claimed that the furniture godown did not have an electricity connection, leading officials to suspect that extreme heat or a stray spark may have triggered the fire. PTI COR KIS VN VN(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)