Rourkela: A major fire broke out in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) branch of the State Bank of India near Bisra Chowk here on Saturday morning.

The bank will function from the building of the main branch for some time due to the damages caused by the fire. However, bank authorities said the customers must not fear about loss of any valuable information, because the data of the bank were stored safely at a server in Chennai.

Around 3.30am, an alert message about the smoke was sent to the chief accountant of the bank, prompting him to rush to the spot. A police team accompanied him. However, they did not notice anything and the cops went back.

"But, our accountant stayed back, and after sometime, he noticed smoke emanating from the bank. He immediately informed the plant site police station," said the bank's regional manager Bibhuti Bhusan Das.

Soon, the cops informed the fire brigade, and the Rourkela Steel Plant fire tender immediately reached the spot. The fire fighters had to work for hours to douse the flame. More than 10 to 12 computers and equal numbers of air-conditioners were destroyed in the fire, according to preliminary investigation.

Fire officer Saroj Kumar Behera said: "A short circuit in the AC unit could have caused the fire. However, the electrical contractor and experts can only establish how and where it started."