Vending zone catches fire, none injured

BHUBANESWAR: A major fire broke out in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) vending zone at Patia area on Saturday. Around 16 shops were gutted in the incident, however, no one was injured.
Locals alleged that delay in the fire services personnel reaching the spot led to more damage. Fish, fruits, vegetables shops, an Omfed stall, betel shop, among others were affected in the fire.

About four fire fighting vehicles, 25 fire services personnel and Bhubaneswar deputy fire officer were present at the spot. It took them around 2 hours to put off the flames.“We are yet to ascertain the exact reason behind the blaze and investigation into the incident is on,” a fire personnel said. Locals alleged that the garbage piled up in a plot behind the shops was being burnt and the flickers flew to one of the shops in the vending zone which caught fire and spread rapidly. “We are verifying whether the fire started due to a short circuit or was there any other reason,” a fire personnel said.

In another incident, an empty bus parked at Satsang Vihar area under Saheed Nagar police limits caught fire on Friday night. “We received information at 1:40 am that a bus parked on a road side in Satsang Vihar area had caught fire. We rushed to the spot and doused the blaze. We are probing whether any foul play is involved or the vehicle caught fire due to a technical fault,” a fire personnel said, adding that there were no passengers or driver inside the bus. The blaze was so massive that the vehicle was completely gutted.