CHENNAI: Timely response from the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service (TNFRS) personnel helped prevent a major fire at the Additional Law Chambers of Madras High Court in the early hours of Monday.
The force was equipped with Quick Response Vehicles (QRV), without which maneuvering into the narrow lanes of the court would have been a tough task.
“We were alerted by a passerby who saw smoke billowing out of the building behind the Bar Council premises in the High Court,” said K Siva Shankar, Station Officer, TNFRS.
Based on the alert, the personnel reached the office of the Women Lawyers Association, located in the Additional Law Chambers, on time and immediately doused the fire which had destroyed a few files in the office by then. “Without the special vehicles, it would have been a tough job to reach the spot, given the narrow lanes of the High Court,” said Siva Shankar.
Though, police officials privy to the investigation ruled out the possibility of an electrical short circuit, they said only the forensic report could reveal the reason.
However, an official who spoke to Express hinted that the files gutted in the fire, apparently the account books of the association, smelled of kerosene, indicating that the fire could have been the handiwork of an insider.