A devastating fire broke out on Tuesday at a mattress and quilt shop and its adjoining godown in the Ashoka Garden area of the State capital. Due to the abundance of highly flammable material, the flames were so intense that thick smoke and fire were clearly visible from several kilometres away. The incident resulted in goods worth lakhs of rupees being destroyed. The incident occurred near the main road close to the Ashoka Garden Police Station. The fire started in the godown filled with cotton and foam material during the afternoon and rapidly engulfed the entire premises. Relief and rescue operations were launched immediately after the fire was reported.

 

Fire Tenders from Four Stations Deployed: Given the intensity of the blaze, fire tenders were summoned from four different fire stations: Bogda Pul, Govindpura, Fatehgarh, and Kabar Khana. Firefighters, aided by local residents, managed to bring the fire under complete control in approximately two hours. Had the fire not been contained in time, it could have spread to nearby shops, potentially causing a major disaster in the area.

 

Preliminary investigation suggests that a short circuit is the likely cause of the fire. Due to the presence of lakhs of rupees worth of mattresses, quilts, and foam material in the godown, the fire spread rapidly, and the loss is estimated to be in the lakhs. The fire severely impacted traffic on the 80 Feet Road, leading to heavy congestion. The Ashoka Garden Police Station immediately took charge of managing traffic to facilitate the movement of fire tenders and control the crowd.

 

The police instantly diverted the route to prevent any potential accidents, providing some relief to stranded commuters. The fire was brought under control after about two hours of effort.