A fire broke out on the top floor of a five-storey building on 45 Ganesh Chandra Avenue that houses multiple government department offices.
The fire was reported on Thursday morning. It had engulfed a large portion of the fourth floor where an office of the public health engineering department is located.
The building is located near the GC Avenue-Central Avenue crossing.
Eleven fire tenders were pressed into action to douse the fire. According to the police and fire department officials, no one was trapped or injured in the fire.
“The fire had started around 9.50am before the offices in the building became fully operational,” said a senior official of the fire department.
The office on the fourth floor had wooden furniture, cubicles and piles of documents and papers which made it easy for the flames to spread, he said.
According to fire department officials, initially, they were finding it difficult to enter the building as it has a narrow entrance.
A long pipe was used to spray water and then the firefighting team entered the building.
The fire was brought under control late in the afternoon.
“The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. We are waiting for the affected areas to cool down, after which a forensic team will examine the area and identify the source of the fire,” said a fire department official.
The building is located on one of the busiest roads in the city that witnesses heavy vehicular and pedestrian movement thorough the day.
Amar Hazra, who runs an electronic gadget shop selling CCTV cameras and computers just opposite the building that caught fire, said at one point it seemed that the fire could spread across to a private hospital next to the building. “But the flames were brought under control in time,” Hazra said.
Fire and emergency services minister Sujit Bose visited the spot on Thursday afternoon and said that it was an old building with a narrow entrance which made the work of the firefighters more challenging.