A fire broke out at a godown in Gajaraj Nagar, Thottapalayam, in Vellore on Saturday morning and destroyed goods worth lakhs of rupees but there was no report of any casualty.
“The fire was reported at around 4 a.m. We have not received reports of any casualties. The fire was doused by 7 a.m. by more than 30 fire service personnel, but the cooling operations lasted till noon. Fire tenders from Arcot, Katpadi and Vellore were rushed to the spot to control the fire. Seven water tenders were pressed into service,” a fire service official said.
The godown is owned by Saravanan of Sathuvachari in Vellore who had stocked grocery items and plastics to be supplied to stores. Though the godown had stocks worth more than ₹50 lakh, the exact loss is being estimated.
Fire service personnel faced difficulty in dousing the fire since the stock inside also comprised a large quantity of oil and ghee, that fuelled the fire, an official said. Another problem the personnel faced was reaching the affected area of the building. They had to break open the side wall to send in fire extinguishers to douse the fire, he added.
Vellore north police have registered a case and are investigating.