Property worth lakhs gutted after fire breaks out in godown-cum-residential building

Property worth several lakh rupees was today gutted when a double storey godown cum residential building caught fire in Guljarnagar locality here, police said on Wednesday

A huge stock of mobil oil drums, said to be owned by a trader Raju Khan, was kept in the building when the fire broke out, they said.

Khan's family was safely moved away from the house by the firemen and local residents, they said

Owing to the huge stock of highly inflammable mobil oil, the fire engulfed the entire building within a few minutes, police said. Fire tenders from several stations were deployed to douse the flames, they said, adding that it took nearly six hours to bring the fire under control and check it from spreading to other houses in the locality.

Superintendent of Police, Arvind Sen Yadav, who was himself supervising the rescue operations, said, "property worth several lakh rupees was gutted in the fire. The exact reason behind the fire could not be ascertained." However, he added, "sparking from a running generator was reported to be the immediate cause."

Investigations would be carried out to ascertain if the building owner had obtained proper permission to set up a godown and keep stock of mobil oil in such a large quantity in a residential building located in a densely populated area, the SP said.