Footwear warehouse gutted in Kochi

KOCHI: A warehouse of a footwear company at Ashoka Road near Pottakuzhy was gutted on Thursday. The fire spread in the warehouse of Choice Footwear Material operating on the ground floor of a building around 4 pm. 

Four fire tenders from Thrikkakara, Gandhi Nagar and Club Road stations rushed to the spot and doused the fire within one hour. “Two families are residing in the two-storey building. They spotted the smoke on the ground floor. Soon they alerted neighbours who informed the fire station. Though the fire was doused within 20 minutes, the entire area was covered with smoke. We removed the burnt materials and managed to control the smoke,” a fire and rescue service official said. The timely intervention of residents prevented the spread of fire upstairs. 

“Luckily, the fire could be doused before it spread to the first and second floors where families are residing. We are probing the reason for the fire. The preliminary probe revealed that an electric short circuit led to the fire,” the officer said.