Bhubaneswar, February 24 – In a significant development in Odisha, fire service personnel are still struggling to bring under control a major fire that broke out at a supermarket in the Lingipur area of Bhubaneswar, more than 18 hours after the incident.
The blaze, which started late Monday evening around 10 pm, quickly engulfed multiple floors of the four-story building, which contained large quantities of highly flammable goods, including plastic and rubber items.
Upon being informed, fire service personnel reached the scene and rescued two mall staff members who were trapped inside. Subsequently, they doused the blaze with water and later with foam.
However, the fire was so severe that the firefighters are still struggling to completely extinguish it. Officials from the fire services department told the media that the building reportedly has no staircases, and only a single entry and exit point.
Over 45 personnel, 12 fire tenders, robot firefighters, and other advanced firefighting equipment have been deployed to extinguish the blaze. The firefighters have been using foam and water to douse the severe blaze that engulfed the building.
Meanwhile, due to the blaze and extreme heat, parts of the building have begun to develop cracks on multiple sides, raising concerns that the entire structure may collapse.
The people gathered near the building, and residents staying in nearby buildings have been evacuated to avoid any eventualities. Firefighters fear that it may take much longer to fully control the fire, which has been raging for over 18 hours.
"The mall has four floors (Ground + 3), and we have successfully doused the fire on the ground, first, second, and third floors using foam. However, while attempting to control the blaze on the fourth floor, we noticed cracks developing in the building's roof. For safety reasons, we avoided entering the floor and withdrew our personnel from the building. We are now trying to douse the fire externally through holes created in the building wall on the front and other sides," informed Central Range Fire Officer Trilokya Kumar Babu.
The owner of the mall, Subash Chandra Jagati, claimed that around Rs 4 to 5 crores of goods were destroyed in the building inferno.