A major fire gutted a footwear godown in Sambalpur in the wee hours on Sunday destroying goods worth lakhs of rupees. The fire broke out at the godown at Kumbharapada shortly after midnight.
Four fire engines, three from Sambalpur and one from Maneswar, were pressed into services to contain the fire. As many as 22 firemen reached the spot at around 3 am and took nearly three hours to douse the blaze.
The Fire Service officials suspected that the fire might have broken out due to short circuit in the godown. As no one was residing in the warehouse, no loss of life was reported. “Stocks of chappals were kept in the three-storied godown where the fire tragedy took place. Goods worth around `50 lakh were destroyed,” an employee of the company said.
Preliminary investigation revealed that no fire safety measures or extinguishers were put in place in the godown.