A fire broke out in a Murshidabad Silk House store on the ground floor of the Dakshinapan shopping complex in south Kolkata’s Dhakuria around 11.40am on Monday.
One of the staff members noticed white fumes coming out of an AC duct and raised the alarm, police said.
Some of the store employees tried to douse the fire with extinguishers before alerting the fire and emergency services department. Two fire tenders reached the spot and controlled the fire within an hour.
Officers from Lake police station said no one was injured.
Fire officials suspect a short circuit in an air-conditioner caused the fire. “The short circuit could have been because of the wear and tear of the wires. Someone might have forgot to switch off the AC last night,” said an official.
Eyewitnesses said the fire was spotted around the time when most shops were opening for the day and there wasn’t much of a crowd. Employees of the shops adjoining the one that caught fire downed their shutters immediately. There were frantic efforts to move away the stuff that stores put on display outside their gates.
As fumes continued to gush out of the shop, employees began removing bundles of garments and sarees from inside, while others joined hands with the firefighters to help them reach the seat of the fire. The entire area around the shop on the ground floor of the shopping complex was sealed off and owners of a few shops who had come to open their establishments were asked to wait till the firefighting exercise was over.
“The shop extends to the mezzanine floor and had rolls of bed sheets and bed covers on one side. We had to ensure that the fire did not spread to that side,” a fire department official said. “Everything inside the shop was inflammable. Had the fire spread, it could have been difficult to contain.”
Hours after the fire was contained, there was anxiety among many of the shop-owners of the shopping complex who said they would wrap up early. There were concerns about the electrical equipment of the ageing complex.
Some of the staff of the shop that caught fire said they were yet to assess the extent of damage. The shop’s power supply has been snapped, they said.