KOLKATA: A fire broke out at a ground-floor cloth godown on Jamunalal Bajaj Street in Burrabazar around 8.30pm on Sunday. The fire sparked panic among the residents and traders in the area as their memories are fresh with the September fire at Bagri Market, which continued for four days. Five fire tenders reached the spot and doused the flames within an hour, said Sujit Bose, state fire services minister.Since the fire broke out in a two-storey building located inside a narrow lane, the firemen had a difficult time to gain access to the seat of the fire. Later, the fire department officials broke open the door of an adjoining shop to douse the flames.By the time the firemen gained access to the godown, the flames had already spread to an adjoining shop. “The fire engines had reached the spot within 10 minutes,” added the minister.Bose, who reached the spot soon after the fire broke out, said the fire engines could not reach close to the spot due to accessibility problem. “There was panic among merchants since there are cloth gowdowns all around the spot. But we have managed to control the fire from spreading,” added Bose.The minister said a probe has begun to ascertain the cause of the fire. He added that residential houses in Burrbazar were being used for commercial purposes without proper infrastructure. He also said the traders did not care to maintain the electrical wirings of these houses, which will be evident after fire audits.Locals said merchants, who had stocked their materials in the same building or adjoining houses, also panicked and gathered in front of the building adding to the problem.“Getting access to water was also a problem for the firemen,” said the minister.After the fire was brought under control, firemen put on masks to enter the building and check whether they were missing any pockets or not. Later, they tried to release the smoke entrapped in the building.Locals said when they saw the smoke coming out of the building, they tried to douse it all by themselves while trying to call the firemen.

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