Odisha fire service to reward its personnel for dousing massive blaze in Puri

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Fire and Emergency Service has announced monetary reward for its personnel engaged in dousing the massive blaze at Laxmi Market Complex in Puri on Wednesday evening. Around 160 fire personnel were engaged in the operation on Wednesday and 200 on Thursday to bring the blaze under control.

The firefighters continued with their efforts and the blaze was eventually brought under control after 27 hours. Apart from the monetary reward, two personnel and three officers who sustained injuries in the incident will receive DG’s commendation disc. The fire service personnel said the operation was one of the most difficult and complex ones in the recent years in Odisha.

The ground floor of the market complex has 47 shops while the first floor has 12 shops and a godown. There is a lodge on the third and fourth floors of the building. The department’s initial investigation suggests the blaze possibly broke out due to an electric short circuit and the building had hardly any fire safety measures in place.

“As there was only one entry, the fire personnel had to break the wall of Laxmi Market Complex from its rear. It took 45 minutes to 1 hour to break open the shutter of each shop,” said director general of Fire and Emergency Service Santosh Kumar Upadhyay. The temperature inside the building had shot up massively and there was hardly any visibility. A few personnel sustained injuries mostly while breaking open the shutters, he said. Fortunately, no one sustained injuries in the mishap.

Around 110 tourists from Nashik and 20 from Ganjam were staying in the lodge when the incident took place and they managed to escape unhurt. Meanwhile, Odisha Fire Service personnel said they are planning to carry out an inspection at major business establishments in Puri to ascertain whether they are adhering to safety rules.