Accidental fire broke out in two places in the city on Thursday, destroying goods worth several lakhs of rupees. However, there were no causalities in both the incidents.
In the first incident, a fire broke out at the Berger Paints godown at Garvebavi Palya near Bommanahalli on Hosur Road.
A total of 35 fire tenders. including four foam-oil tankers, were pressed into service to extinguish the fire. The fire broke out around 9 am on the ground floor, where thousands of paint cans were stocked. The fire personnel battled nearly eight hours to bring the fire under control, police said. Firemen took the help of 25 local water tankers from nearby villages.
The building, belonging to Chinnaswamy Reddy & Sons, had been rented out to Berger Pvt Limited for 15 years.
A garment factory (NF Apparels Pvt Ltd) was also located on its first floor.
Employees of the garment factory ran out of the building where clothes, furniture and other valuables were completely gutted. The firemen took precautions to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings. The building also collapsed after its beams melted due to the intense heat. The reasons for the fire and the exact loss are yet to be ascertained.
It is suspected that an electrical short circuit inside the godown could have caused the fire, police said.
Chinnaswamy, the owner of the building told Express that the company had been maintaining its premises properly all these years and the manager and workers regularly visited the godown. “I am shocked at the incident,” he said.
Soumya BG, an employee of garment factory said that 15 workers had come to work and had kept their lunch boxes on the rack inside the factory. “But when we noticed the smoke, we ran out leaving our belongings. We then noticed the fire on the ground floor,” she said.
In another incident, Sneha Packers, a private packaging factory at Nedagerappa Industrial Area on Handarahlli Main Road near Hegganahalli, was gutted.
Twelve fire tenders were pressed into service. The fire broke out around 5.30 pm at the factory. Packing materials and other valuables have been completely destroyed.
The fire personnel battled nearly three hours to bring the fire under control, the police said.