Fire breaks out in 3 shops of Chakeri

Kanpur: A major fire broke out in three shops at Rama Devi crossing in Chakeri area of the city on Wednesday afternoon. Three fire tenders could control the blaze after more than two hours.
An official in the fire department said huge stock of paper disposable product was stored in one of the shops where the fire started. None was injured in the incident. The cause of the blaze is not yet known, and investigations are on, the official added.
The fire first broke out in the paper disposable product shop of Ajay Gupta, who raised alarm and informed the fire department and the local police.
The fire was so severe that soon it engulfed adjacent grocery hardware shops. Three fire tenders and more than a dozen personnel had to be pressed into action to douse the flames in an operation that lasted for more than two hours. Locals claimed that property and goods worth several lakhs was gutted in the fire.
“I was standing near the paper disposable product shop when heavy smoke started billowing out, and within minutes, the entire shop was engulfed in flames. The fire spread to two other neighbouring shops,” said Vaibhav, an eye witness.
There were electricity cables outside the shops. “Luckily, the firemen controlled the flames before they reached the cables otherwise the results would have been disastrous,” said Nitin Jaiswal, another eye witness.
Vehicular movement on the stretch was affected for hours after the mishap. SP (East) Raj Kumar Agarwal said, “We will investigate the incident to find out exact cause of the fire”.