Fire destroys metro godown in Bamboo Bazaar

A fireman extinguishes flames from chemical canisters at the metro storehouse in Bamboo Bazaar, Shivajinagar, on Saturday. Credit: DH Photo/Pushkar V

Smoke rises from the metro site in Bamboo Bazaar, Shivajinagar, on Saturday. The site boundary is separated through a small alley from a row of tightly packed houses in the densely populated locality. Some houses suffered damage following the fire. Credit: DH Photo/Pushkar V

Two residents pour buckets of water on the fire scene from atop a building at Bamboo Bazaar, Shivajinagar, on Saturday. Credit: DH Photo/Pushkar V

Construction materials and miscellaneous goods were destroyed in a fire that broke out in a makeshift storehouse at a metro construction site in central Bengaluru on Saturday. There were no casualties, officials said.

The fire at the metro site near Bamboo Bazaar in Shivajinagar is reported to have started around 4 pm.

It erupted in a storehouse where chemical canisters, wood, thermocol sheets, cables, mechanical spare parts, cylinders and other materials were stacked up, according to a senior officer in the fire department.

Roofed with corrugated steel sheets, the storehouse was located at the edge of the metro site. A narrow alley separates its boundary with a row of tightly packed houses in the densely populated neighbourhood.

It was the explosion of three cylinders one after one that set alarm bells ringing in the locality, said Ameerjan, a local resident. Residents of the surrounding residential buildings immediately evacuated, he added.

The incident was reported to the fire brigade around 4.30 pm. Firefighters from the South Fire Station rushed to the spot with three water tenders and put out the flames within half an hour, officials said.

An officer from the jurisdictional Bharathinagar police station said the situation was brought under control within an hour.

He suggested that the fire started and spread through garbage dumped by local residents near the storehouse, adding that an inquiry has been launched.

“Since the site contained a lot of waste materials, we suspect that an accidental flame spread to combustible materials and resulted in the fire. We are still ascertaining the exact cause though,” the police officer said.

Ameerjan blamed it on the metro contractors’ failure to take preventive measures. “They just filled the entire godown with materials and did not take any preventive measures. The fire has damaged my building. I will file a police complaint,” he said.

The inquiry will determine the monetary loss caused by the fire.

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