A fire broke out in the meter room on the ground floor of a four-storey commercial building at the intersection of Brabourne Road and Canning Street on Sunday morning.

Leaping flames damaged some stores and warehouses on upper floors of the building, but no one was injured because being a Sunday, all establishments were closed, police said.

Located in front of the Maghen David Synagogue, the building houses 20-odd stores and warehouses dealing in steel and glass utensils, jewellery and plastic products.

The fire broke out in the meter box around 9.50am. The owner of a stall in the building said the wooden railings of the staircase and stacked materials on the landings helped the fire move up.

It did not spread much, barring the third floor. Many stores on the top floor of the building were badly damaged, said Mohammad Farhan Khan, who runs a store on the first floor. “The gate and shutter of my store on the first floor have been completely twisted,” said Khan.

The commercial building where the fire broke out Gautam Bose

A fire brigade official said eight fire tenders were deployed to control the flames. “We got a call at 9.50am. The fire was doused by noon,” said the official.

The smoke rising in the air could be seen from a distance. People panicked fearing the flames would spread to adjacent buildings, including the synagogue, which is a heritage structure.

A blaze at Bagree Market, about 100m from the building which caught fire on Sunday, had burnt for over 80 hours in August 2017.

Khan said the fire had dealt a blow to the traders’ desperate attempt to put their business back on track following the prolonged lockdown that has almost hollowed out the economy.

“Most stores and godowns used to remain open for two to four hours a day as business volume was not very high.

But even that would stop, now that the fire brigade has sealed the building,” he said.

A police officer said they were probing the cause of the fire and the extent of damage.