Towering inferno inside leading textile showroom

Until 10 pm on Wednesday, firefighters were engaged in dousing the massive fire which broke out in a leading textile showroom in T-Nagar, in the early hours of the morning, due to a suspected short circuit.

Reinforcements from various departments, including Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), Greater Chennai Corporation, Chennai Metro Rail Limited, Police and Revenue Department, were called in to reign in the blaze. 

A Fire and Rescue Services official, said that the persons in the building had tried to douse the blaze, before ringing the fire rescue services for help. “By that time, the fire had started spreading to other parts of the building. We could go inside and douse the fire, but due to the excessive heat and pressure, the structure had started to fall. We had to quickly vacate the building, which then became inaccessible,” said the firefighter, who was the first one to reach the location. 

“There was a canteen in the building and we removed 25 gas cylinders,” said the firefighter, adding that the fire was contained within the premises of the textile showroom. Temporary medical camps were set up, though there were no major casualties reported. An ambulance service personnel, on standby, said, “One firefighter had a cut on his hand and a worker, assisting the fire team, who was climbing on the tree, had a fall and suffered minor injury. Other than that, there were no problems.” The fire kept breaking out in various parts of the building and by 9 pm, the blaze was visible on the other side of the structure too.  While some fire officers claimed that the building had weakened due to weathering, others said that this was not the case. Since the building was inaccessible to the firefighters, loud sounds suggested that some minor structure in the building had collapsed and occasionally, there were reports of glass shattering. 

As water tankers kept coming in, there were concerns of unavailability of sufficient water supply to douse the fire. The narrow street hampered the movement of the rescue vehicles and ambulances. Specialised equipment were brought in for the operation.  “We were called in since we had equipment such as earth movers and skylift,” said a Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) official. T-Nagar, which is chocka-block with several textile and jewellery outlets, also hides several serious building and fire-safety violations, unchecked by authorities. This building reportedly has constructed more storeys than permitted and fire safety equipment protocols were also not adhered to. At 10 pm, the blaze still kept playing hide-and-seek, as the firefighters struggled to control and extinguish the fire.