A major fire broke out in a mobile parts warehouse in Sagar electronics market on Birhana Road in Kanpur at 11:20pm on Saturday. No casualties were reported in the incident.
The fire started in the mobile parts and accessories warehouse, belonging to one Bablu, on the second floor of the five-storey building. The building houses electrical and mobile parts warehouses, while shops operate on the ground floor. Four families lived on the third, fourth and fifth floors of the building.
Noticing flames emerging from the warehouse on the second floor, the residents tried to douse it by pouring water, but the fire began spreading rapidly. The families living in the building escaped through stairs with the help of locals. Fire department and the police were alerted.
On being informed, five fire tenders reached the spot. Fire brigade personnel brought the fire under control after approximately one-and-a-half hours of effort.
Locals said that if the fire tenders had arrived earlier, the fire would not have taken such a devastating form. Shopkeepers said that the ground floor has more than 100 mobile and electrical shops and the fire was spreading rapidly and could have gutted many shops. Shopkeepers and local market leaders expressed concern over the poor state of electrical wiring managed by Kesco, saying complaints were made multiple times but the cables were not repaired. A short circuit is suspected to have caused the fire.
The shopkeepers said that a huge number of electrical goods were damaged in the fire.
Earlier, on the same day, one shopkeeper died and five others were injured after a major fire broke out in Dina Market, Ghatampur. Three shops were gutted.
Chief Fire Officer Deepak Sharma stated that the actual cause of the fire will become clear after an investigation.
