The mystery surrounding the fire breakout inside a footwear godown in a six-storey building in the city earlier this week has deepened with the Electrical Inspectorate Department prima facie ruling out the electrical room, where the transformer and other electrical equipment were kept, as the point of origin of the fire.

The conclusion emerged at the end of a four-hour inspection of the building conducted by a four-member team from the Inspectorate led by V.K. Sagar, Deputy Chief Electrical Inspector, on Friday. The assessment went against the grain of conclusion of the Fire and Safety Department’s inspection on Thursday.

“We could not find any evidence to suggest that the fire originated from the room where the transformer was kept. However, we will have to conduct more detailed inspections aided by the electrical manager of the building and electricians to take apart and closely analyse what little is left of the circuit boards and switchboards.

“Such an inspection is also necessary to ascertain whether faults in the wiring of the building had resulted in the fire. We will also record statements of the people in the building,” Electrical Inspectorate sources told The Hindu.

The inspection team looked at factors such as the possibility of power overload and circuit loose connections. They found the transformer in good shape, at least in appearance, though it required detailed analysis. The godown where the fire broke out had only a tubelight, which was highly unlikely to cause such a huge fire.

There was no KSEB supply at the time of the incident since the supply was switched off for line maintenance. The possibility of a transformer burst was also unlikely since a dry-type transformer was used in the building.

The generator, which was kept outside, was used just before the incident, sources said. In its annual inspection, the Electrical Inspectorate had not found any issues with the service and maintenance of electrical equipment in the building.