Smoke detected at Bagri market in Kolkata

KOLKATA: Smoke was detected in a pile of debris inside room number 213 in the gutted portion of Bagri market on Friday morning. Two fire tenders took 15 minutes to extinguish it.

A fire on September 16 had ravaged a portion of Bagri market gutting almost 200 shops. The market has been shut since then and a lot of debri is yet to be removed.

“Smoke was detected at the debris from the gutted Bagri Market. The source of the smoke could not be detected. There must have been a spark, which can be triggered by cigarette butt also. The smoke could be contended before the fire tender reach there. But we have stationed one fire tender there. KMC has been working to clear the debris to avert any untoward incident, said a senior fire brigade officer.

The smoke was detected at 9.20 am and it was extinguished by 9.35 am. “It seems the smoke was due to some heat trapped in one of the pockets. Everything is normal. The fire department did a very good job,” said Asutosh Singh, the president of the Bagri Market Central Kolkata Traders’ Welfare Association.

Room number 213 is located on the second floor of the C block of the market which has been the worst affected portion in the market. The fire raged for over 82 hours due to the presence of inflammable material and defunct fire system inside the market.