By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 15: Almost a day and a half after a massive blaze engulfed the Janata Furniture Building at around 1:15 pm on Saturday, the fire was yet to be completely doused by 10 pm on Sunday.
Curiously, the actual cause of the fire, that has been blazing for a record time now, is still unclear since it has now been confirmed that the LPG cylinder explosion occurred after the fire started, sources informed. It was earlier speculated that the LPG cylinder blast led to the fire.
In the meantime, East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner RM Kurbah constituted a magisterial inquiry to be headed by Additional District Magistrate, R Wahlang into the fire incident. Wahlang has been asked to submit his report within ten days.
The Fire and Emergency Service personnel are still at the ground pumping water to douse the fire.
When contacted, Inspector-General (Fire and Emergency Service), Francis Kharshiing said they have managed to bring the fire under control.
According to him, they are facing problems since they are not able to remove the combustible materials to ensure that the water penetrates inside.
He said they are slowly trying to remove the combustible materials and also continuing to spray water inside.
Kharshiing said they have managed to bring down the fire from the top but smoke is still emerging from inside. “We will continue with our operation. We will slowly reduce the manpower as and when the situation improves,” the IG said.
He, however, said that they will continue to station a team of the Fire Service personnel at the spot on standby.
Moreover, he informed that more than 100 personnel are being deployed at present and even personnel who are still undergoing training in Mairang are also engaged in this operation.
According to him, they are still pressing a total number of 14 fire tenders.
Earlier on Saturday, Kharshiing had informed that there was one casualty and one person was rescued, he added that two buildings were gutted in the incident.
The fire reportedly broke out from a godown on Janata Furniture building at around 1:15 pm on Saturday. The thick black smoke emitting from the blaze was visible from vantage points across the city.
East Khasi Hills SP Sylvester Nongtnger confirmed that 54-year-old Sampath Singh Jangir, working as a manager at Bhajanlal’s, had died of suffocation.
The police official said some persons were rescued before the fire engulfed the building.
The fire tenders took at least 40 minutes to reach the spot as the road leading to the accident site was woefully congested, having being overrun by street vendors and vehicles.
The narrow alleys prevented fire tenders from reaching the spot on time as the fire engulfed the entire building destroying several shops and godowns.
Eyewitnesses said the fire tenders had trouble getting through because street vendors were in their way, causing delays. Fire tenders and water tankers from the Army, Air Force and the BSF coordinated with the Fire Services department to douse the flames.
The road leading to Police Bazar area right from the DC’s office was turned into a no entry zone to ensure a hassle-free movement for the emergency vehicles.
As a result, the city came to a grinding halt as all vehicular movement towards Police Bazar was stopped leading to a Domino’s effect across the city.
Citizens witnessed an unprecedented gridlock till late in the evening and power supply in several localities was cut off to prevent any untoward incident.