A fire broke out in a car repairing-cum-maintenance garage on Christopher Road in east Kolkata’s Tangra area around 3pm on Sunday.
The fire spread to a few godowns adjoining the garage, triggering panic among residents, a majority of people who reside in shanties and huts in the congested locality on the eastern fringes of the city.
Police said no one was injured.
Ten fire tenders took over three hours to bring the fire under control with help from residents of the area who carried water in buckets and cans from tanks that were brought in from Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
Sunday’s incident was the second fire in Tangra in a little over a month, the last one in a godown on Meher Ali Lane on March 12.
“The spot where the fire broke out on Sunday afternoon lies tucked inside a dingy lane and fire tenders had a trying time finding their way to the garage. There were a few gas cylinders that had started bursting in heat,” said an officer of Tangra police station.
“The intensity of the heat was so high that a few walls of the garages adjoining the one where the fire struck developed cracks. We are yet to ascertain the exact cause of the fire,” said a senior official of the fire and emergency services.