By Adeeb Walter
LUCKNOW: A massive fire broke out at a three-storied automobile showroom-cum-service centre in Chinhat area on Monday morning and goods worth crores were gutted in the blaze.
As many as 12 vehicles brought for servicing were burnt completely while four people had a narrow escape. The blaze turned so severe that fire tenders had to be arranged from across the city.
As many as 12 fire tenders pressed into service finally succeeded in dousing the flames after almost three hours. The cloud of smoke was visible from as far as three kilometres.
The building had a showroom of an international automobile company on the ground floor while another automobile company was running its service centre on the upper two floors.
The fire broke out on the second floor at around 11am reportedly due to a short circuit and spread rapidly to the third floor. Maximum damage occurred at the service centre whose manager Harneet Singh said that it was too early to calculate the loss, but it looks like goods, including four-wheelers, worth Rs 2 crore were gutted. The company will compensate customers whose vehicles have been damaged, he added.
The flames spread panic among the workers in the building and commuters passing through Ayodhya road also stopped, leading to a traffic jam.
Fire prevention and safety officers said there were altogether 100 employees on the three floors. Most managed to escape, barring four who were trapped on the third floor and rushed to the roof as the fire started spreading and blocked exit points.
The four workers trapped on the roof were Salim (23), Manish Gupta (22), Sandeep (21) and Ramnath (50). The fire tenders reached the spot in 15 minutes and took an hour to rescue the four on the roof.
Chief fire officer (CFO) Vijay Kumar Singh said that the fire was brought under control by 1.45pm. “Prima facie it looks like the fire started after a short-circuit in the AC vent. There was a lot of inflammable material in the service centre due to which the fire spread quickly,” he added.
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