KANNUR: Over 200 vehicles were gutted after a massive fire broke out at the police dumping yard at Vellarampara near Taliparamba in Kannur around 11 am on Thursday. Fire and Rescue Services personnel from Kannur, Taliparamba, Mattannur and Payyannur, aided by police and local residents, doused the fire after a five-hour mission at 4 pm.
The fire broke out from the eastern side of the yard, where vehicles taken into custody in connection with cases registered in Taliparamba, Pazhayangadi, Pariyaram, Alakkode, and Mayyil police stations are being kept. Though the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that waste and dry grass first caught fire which later spread to the vehicles.
Residents who spotted the flames couldn’t put them out as the area was engulfed in smoke. The heavy wind caused the flames to spread to other vehicles. Though three units of the Fire and Rescue Services from Taliparamba reached the spot, they could not bring the flames under control due to the smoke.
The explosion of vehicle’s fuel tanks also hampered firefighting efforts. Soon, units from Kannur, Payyannur and Mattannur joined the operation. Two water tankers in the area were also pressed into service. Only a few seized vehicles in the yard could be saved.
The land had been given to the police by the revenue department to keep the seized vehicles. “The destruction of vehicles would not affect the cases registered against them. The documents of the burnt-out vehicles are in the possession of the police. We will discuss the matter with the district collector,” said Rural SP P Hemalatha. Following the explosions, the traffic through the state highway near the dumping yard was rerouted. It was reinstated around 4 pm.