Zirakpur furniture market fire: 22 sheds gutted just days before Diwali
PTC Web Desk: A huge fire broke out early this morning at the Baltana furniture market in Zirakpur and reduced 22 tin sheds to ashes. With Diwali only days away, traders say the timing could not have been worse.
The blaze started at around 4 am. Within minutes it spread from one shed to the next, burning furniture and other goods worth lakhs of rupees.
Fire department officials said they received the call at 4 am. Seeing how fast the flames were spreading, they called in fire tenders from Mohali, Derabassi, Panchkula and the Air Force Station, in addition to the Zirakpur unit. No injuries or deaths have been reported.
Police and fire officials are investigating what caused the fire. A short circuit is the early suspicion, but nothing has been confirmed.
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As flames shot into the sky, panic spread through the neighbourhood. Residents rushed to help and began throwing buckets of water on the fire alongside the firefighters.
People tried to douse the fire with buckets at first, but the flames were too strong and shopkeepers could only watch helplessly as their stock burned.
Shopkeepers said the loss coming just before Diwali is a heavy blow for traders.
This is not the first fire in the market. Many of the sheds here were built without permission and are packed with wooden furniture along with paint, thinners, chemicals and oil. Electricity is often drawn through temporary connections, which keeps the whole market at constant risk of a major accident.
Earlier this year, on 4 July, another early-morning fire destroyed seven sheds. Two years ago, 24 stalls spread over an acre were gutted and 12 fire tenders had to battle the flames for hours.
- PTC NEWS
