Portions of South 24-Parganas’ new administrative building on Baker Road in Alipore were gutted on Wednesday after a fire broke out on the third floor and spread to the eighth.
There were no casualties because most employees had not reached the office when the fire was spotted around 9.40am.
Police said Sahabuddin Molla, 48, who was trapped inside, was rescued by the fire services department. “He fell ill inside and was taken to SSKM Hospital. He was discharged later in the day,” a police officer said.
Documents and office equipment were destroyed, but senior officials were unable to assess the extent of the damage.
The building houses several district offices, including agriculture, higher education, backward classes welfare, public health engineering, transport, panchayat and rural affairs, and urban development.
Senior fire department officers said the blaze started in the office of the zilla parishad’s karmadhayaksha on the third floor before spreading upwards.
Eyewitnesses said flames were first spotted shortly before the offices were due to open at 10am.
A lone fire tender reached first. More tenders were rushed in over the next half hour as officials realised the blaze was spreading rapidly.
Seventeen fire tenders battled the flames for nearly five hours, assisted by Kolkata Police’s disaster management group (DMG).
“The priority was to break the windowpanes so the smoke trapped inside could be released. The offices were full of inflammable materials — papers, plywood compartments and electronic gadgets,” an official of the fire and emergency services department said.
The office block had wall-fitted fire extinguishers and sprinklers on “some of the floors”. None of the available firefighting systems worked, said some firemen.
Immediately after coming to power, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari dealt with a firm hand after a fire in a leather unit in Topsia killed two workers.
A senior fire department officer said on Wednesday evening: “We have yet to verify whether this building had a fire clearance.”
The officer said they “would ask the district magistrate and the zilla parishad” about the fire NOC, which chief minister Adhikari had said was a must for all commercial establishments.
The complex, adjacent to Bhabani Bhavan, also houses the Alipore police court and the office of the South 24-Parganas district magistrate.
Fire officials said a height barrier at the entrance prevented the use of mechanical ladders. Most of the firefighting was carried out using water from a nearby pump house.
“Our office has records of the land and agriculture-related documents. They were mostly destroyed,” said Piyasi Cooman, a 35-year-old employee from Bally, Howrah.
“Our office maintained land and agriculture-related records. Most of them have been destroyed,” said Piyasi Cooman, a 35-year-old employee from Bally in Howrah.
He said the cause of the fire would be known only after a forensic investigation.
Subhajit Bose, an employee of the state education department, said several important records were feared lost.
“All our computers and files were engulfed in flames. We had important documents related to school grants and civil works projects,” he said.
Officials will be allowed to enter the building only after forensic experts clear it for use.