A fire broke out at a furniture and plywood retail outlet on BB Ganguly Street on Wednesday morning, disrupting traffic in central Calcutta as the flames threatened to extend into the busy neighbourhood.

The fire, suspected to have started from 42 BB Ganguly Street, gutted three tin-roofed establishments dealing in furniture and plywood and spread panic among residents of an adjoining multi-storeyed building.

In all, 15 tenders were deployed to bring the flames under control.

Residents of the building next to the fire site, as well as the men and women working in the shops, had to be evacuated. There were no reports of anyone being trapped or injured.

Firefighters at the blaze site

According to shop owners, the blaze was first detected on the tin roof and gradually spread to the shops below. Three shops were completely gutted.

Abir Bose, 45, owner of a furniture store destroyed in the fire, said he had suffered losses exceeding ₹40 lakh.

“From our calculations so far, the loss is around ₹40 lakh, and it is likely to go up. Most of our furniture items have been gutted. We had several wedding furniture orders scheduled for delivery by the end of this month. We don’t know what we will do now,” Bose said.

Later in the day, several shop owners were trying to salvage leftovers from the debris.

Ashish Jain, 30, who was seen loading partially burnt plywood sheets, said his shop had received new stock earlier this week. “I got a call from my employees that a fire had damaged our shop, where the new stock was kept. We have suffered losses in lakhs,” he said.

The blaze also caused panic in a six-storey building that served both commercial and residential purposes, located next to the site. Residents reported that chaos erupted as individuals hurried to escape through a solitary narrow entry and exit passage.

Mahenoor, 26, a ground-floor resident who underwent stomach surgery earlier this week, said the evacuation was particularly difficult for her. “I cannot walk properly as I underwent surgery on Sunday. However, since there is only one narrow lane for entry and exit, we had to get out as quickly as possible,” she said.

She added that she first sensed danger around 10.30am. “I could smell something burning. When I came out, I could see the blaze,” she said.

Zaffar Hussain, 36, who lives on the first floor of the building, said his family remained on the road for more than two hours. “Thick smoke filled our room... we could barely breathe. I immediately asked my wife to go out with the children,” he said.

Traffic was disrupted on BB Ganguly Street. Its ripple effect was felt on Central Avenue and adjoining roads, including Ganesh Chandra Avenue.

Fire department officials said most of the shops had tin sheds and were either eateries or units where wood or fibre materials were cut and drilled — making them "highly vulnerable".

“Most of the shops that caught fire were tin-roofed and had inflammable materials such as wood and fibre stored in them,” a fire department official said.