PUNE: At least 550 stalls were gutted in a massive fire at fashion street market in Camp on late Friday night.
No casualties were reported. Fire officer Sameer Shaikh escaped with minor burn injuries.
The cause behind the fire could not be ascertained immediately.
Chief fire officer Prashant Ranpise told TOI on Saturday, "16 fire tenders and two water tankers from the Pune Municipal Corporation and one fire tender from the Pune Cantonment Board rushed to the spot and started the fire fighting operation after the control room of the central fire brigade was flooded with telephone calls since 11pm."
Ranpise said, "The magnitude of the fire was enormous and thick black fumes were emanating from the market. Our fire men gheraoed the fashion street and sprayed water from all sides and brought the massive fire under control by 1.05am. We gained access in the market and doused off the fire completely by 2.30am."
The impact of the incident was such that the fire had also caused damage to some neighbouring properties on M G Road, he added.
Yusuf Khan, vice president of Fashion street hawkers association said, "The fashion street market had closed at 10.30pm. We received information that the fire broke after 11pm. We suspect that the fire broke because of short circuit."