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Regular-article-logo Wednesday, 16 July 2025

AC short circuit triggers fire

A fire at a Burrabazar shop on Monday has brought the focus back on how several lives are at risk in the country's biggest wholesale hub.

Our Bureau Published 24.03.15, 12:00 AM

The fire at Burrabazar (top) has brought the focus back on how lives are at risk at the wholesale market; the Camac Street eatery. (Pradip Sanyal & Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

A fire at a Burrabazar shop on Monday has brought the focus back on how several lives are at risk in the country's biggest wholesale hub.

A malfunctioning air conditioner triggered a blaze in Tulsi Boutique on the ground floor of a building on Chetan Sett Street that also houses the Burrabazar branch of Axis Bank.

Govind Sethia - the owner of the 50sq ft boutique that sells saris, kurtis and salwar suits - noticed black smoke inside his shop when he opened it around 11am.

He alerted the fire brigade and three tenders doused the fire, probably caused by a short circuit in the AC, in around 30 minutes, the fire brigade said.

But the tenders took double the time to reach the spot because of traffic congestion and another half an hour to reach the source of the fire because the building is inside a lane that is barely 3ft wide.

As a result, the fire engines could not enter the passage," said a fireman of Mohhamed Ali Park fire station. "We had to relay water through a series of hose pipes to douse the flames."

The lane that leads to the building where the boutique is located has been reduced to 3ft width because of an under construction building. Last year, the civic body had stopped construction of the building because of certain "anomalies".

"But the structure is still there and it blocks access to the other buildings," the fireman said. "In case of a bigger fire, we have no idea how we would fight it." He said Burrabazar had several "fire spots" where it was difficult for fire tenders to enter because of hawkers and illegal constructions.

The building that houses the boutique does not have any fire-fighting equipment. "The building neither has fire alarms nor a water reservoir though it is a commercial building," the fireman said.

"We found merchandise dumped on the stairs and corridors. This not only obstructs evacuation process in case of a bigger fire but also helps in spreading the blaze to other parts of the building."

Eatery fire

A fire broke out at an eatery on Camac Street, hours before it was to be inaugurated on Monday. A fireman said a short circuit probably triggered the fire. Anshu Saraf, the owner of Snack Up, said employees were decorating the store with balloons when a portable fan running inside the store room caught fire.

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