Wari fire should be an eye-opener for tinderbox-like Maidan tents: Experts

KOLKATA: Tents made mostly of flammable material and inadequate firefighting equipment may trigger more incidents of fire — like the one that gutted Wari Athletic Club on Monday — in the Maidan area, fear fire officials.


On Tuesday, the state government announced holding a high-level meeting with all the Maidan clubs and the fire brigade to increase awareness about various fire hazards. “We will sit with all the clubs after the elections. We will address all the gaping holes to create a regime that will follow basic fire norms,” said fire minister Sujit Bose. There are around 80 tents in the Maidan area. Bose was present at the club during the forensic examination that was carried on Tuesday.

Talking to TOI, experts said the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit. “It was a huge fire that has completely destroyed the cables. These are signs that a short circuit was indeed the reason behind the fire,” explained a forensic expert.

According to top fire department officials, there is no provision for these tents to take fire clearance. “The clubs do not need clearances due to the very nature of their activities. But that does not mean that they cannot create an awareness,” said DG (Fire) Jagmohan.

Several groundsmen working conceded that they had little firefighting procedure in tents. “Except for East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, very few tents in the Maidan area have a system in place to tend to a big fire,” said a Maidan insider.

“The fire damaged the entire club tent. The trophies, players’ kits, documents, television sets and even the gym equipment, everything was gutted,” said Wari Athletic Club’s general secretary Prabir Chakraborty, ruing that even rare photographs and momentos won by legends have been lost forever. Police said that they will hold joint inspection with CESC once the forensic team collected samples from the spot.