Fire breaks out at four 'illegal' air cooler and furniture units in Hyderabad, no causalties

HYDERABAD: At least four temporary air cooler and furniture-making units at Kushaiguda in the city caught fire on Sunday midnight. No casualties have been reported in the fire, but the raw material in the units has gutted. 

The units have been running without any permission from the government and had no fire safety measures, the officials said.

Station Fire Officer Cherlapally V Shekar Reddy said the fire was put off by around 2.45 am. The cause of the fire is being probed into, he said.

Locals alerted about fire in the makeshift units located in an open land opposite to Venkateshwara temple in Kushaiguda. Fireteams rushed to the spot and started dousing the fire.

As the fire had already spread to all the units in the area, on all sides, more fire tenders were pressed into action.

Fire officials could not identify the cause of the fire but said that the fire had spread rapidly, due to combustible material like grass used in the air coolers and wood in the furniture units.

Fire officials said the units had no permissions and no fire safety measures and were running illegally. Earlier, the fire department had denied permission for selling crackers in the same place. A case is being registered at Kushaiguda police station for further investigation.