A fire broke out at a sawmill in Bhadravati on Wednesday night, reducing wooden logs worth several lakhs of rupees to ashes.
As the volume of wood was huge, fire fighting took long hours. The firefighters were engaged in their efforts even late in the evening on Thursday. There were no casualties.
The local people noticed flames at Manjunath Sawmill around 11 p.m. on Wednesday. They informed the Fire and Emergency Services Department. Fire tenders from Bhadravati, Shivamogga, Kadur, Tarikere, Shikaripura and Channagiri were called in to put out the blaze.
B.R.Ashok Kumar, District Fire Officer of Shivamogga, told that nine vehicles and around 60 staff members were involved in the exercise. “There was hardly any space for the movement of vehicles around the place. Moreover, the volume of the stock was high and putting off the fire was a difficult task”, he said.
Flames spread to neighbouring structures causing damage. The residents in the nearby locality could not sleep throughout the night as they were all worried about the consequences.
The exact assessment of the loss could be done only after the owner reaches the place and gave details of the stock.
The cause of the fire is not known.
The local police and residents helped the firefighters in their efforts.
