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| Flames leap out of the windows of the Bank of India office at Fancy Bazar on Tuesday. Telegraph picture |
Feb. 7: A fire broke out at the Guwahati branch of Bank of India in Fancy Bazar at 12.05pm because of a short circuit in the generator room.
Three fire brigades from Panbazar, one from Chandmari and one from Pandu, were called to douse the fire. “When we arrived at the spot, looking at the fire we made an estimate of the number of fire brigades required and called them,” said station officer of Guwahati fire station, Panbazar, Bishnu Morang.
The chief manager of the bank, Prashant Kumar Singh, said, “Some of the old documents were destroyed in the fire. We are still investigating and taking stock of the extent of damage.”
The customers of the bank who were inside were held up for around two hours. There was a powercut and subsequently, in an attempt to switch on the generator, there was a short circuit in the room and the fire broke out. However, the customers said the bank staff were unable to trace the Guwahati fire station’s number.
Pramod Agarwal, a customer who was present during the incident, said, “Once we realised that there was a fire in a part of the bank, there was absolute chaos on the floor. People panicked as the bank authorities were trying to figure out the fire brigade’s number, which in turn delayed arrival of the fire tenders.”
“Initially, fire extinguishers were used by the bank staff to douse the fire and when it couldn’t be brought under control, they called the fire station,” said sub-inspector of Panbazar police station K. Das.
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