Fire guts furniture shop, godown

A major fire broke out at a furniture shop and godown and a scrap shed at Mangammanapalya on Tuesday afternoon, destroying goods worth Rs 15 lakh.

Twelve fire tenders and a team of 40 firemen battled for about five hours and doused the fire, the Madivala police said.

The incident occurred at around 2.30 pm at the three outlets owned by Chand Pasha and Khaleem Khan. They were running a furniture shop in one of the sheds and had stored scrap and furniture in two sheds.

A few local residents noticed flames and thick smoke billowing from the shed and raised an alarm. About eight workers were taking rest after lunch in one of the sheds. On hearing people’s screams, they rushed outside and made a futile attempt to douse the fire. However, they later called the fire department, said the police.

“Welding work was going on in one of the sheds where scraps were stored. This could have triggered the mishap,” said a police officer. A seven-year-old boy was sleeping in a house adjacent to the shed. His mother had locked the door from outside and left the key near a window before going out. On seeing flames spread to his house, the boy raised an alarm. Neighbours rushed to the house and rescued him, said the police.
The Madivala police are investigating.