A massive fire broke out in a busy shopping area in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. The fire was reportedly first seen in an umbrella showroom in the East Fort area, and then it spread to engulf four more shops.
East Fort is the busiest part of Thiruvananthapuram. The fire brought traffic in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram to a standstill. Firefighters took nearly three hours to bring the situation under control. While the fire in the front portion of the shopping area abated, the back areas of shops were reported to be still ablaze.
People in the shops and nearby houses in Pazhavangady area have been evacuated. No casualties have been reported. Firefighters are continuing efforts to extinguish the blaze as the shops that have caught fire are textile shops that have huge stocks of inflammable material.
Firefighters had a tough time when the blaze erupted as the shops, most of them at least half a century old, are located chock-a-block. Moreover, firefighters faced risks to get atop of the old buildings, many of which had brittle tiled sloping roofs. One firefighter sustained injuries in the action.
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The Fire and Rescue team managed to get things under control by going on top of the taller concrete buildings in the Pazhavangady area and dousing the fire from there. The cause of the fire is not yet known. Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who visited the area, said a probe will be launched to check whether it was the result of a short circuit or if sabotage was involved.
Eyewitness say that it was a staff of the umbrella mart who had first seen the fire. “She saw the fire when she pulled up the shutters to open the shop in the morning,” an eyewitness said. Virtually all the stock in the shop was destroyed.
This article was first published in onmanorama.