200 evacuated from residential as fire erupts in adjoining godown

THANE: Nearly 200 residents of a housing complex were evacuated after fire broke out at scrap godown of Thane municipal corporation (TMC) in Kalwa area on Wednesday evening. Yasin Tadvi, chief of TMC’s regional disaster management cell (RDMC) confirmed that while no casualties were reported in the incident, it triggered small explosions.
The incident occurred around 6 pm, behind Amrutangan society in Kharegaon area.“The fire's rapid spread was fuelled by the presence of stored furniture and garbage in the open plot adjacent to the godown, which triggered a huge flame that reached near the housing complex,” said the officer.
As a precautionary measure, nearly 200 residents of a nearby seven-storey building, and as many as 49 apartments were evacuated. It is learnt that window panes of some of the flats suffered damage due to the fire. After getting the emergency call, firefighters initiated the fire dousing operations with the help of four fire engines.
The civic official said that it took more than three hours to bring the blaze under control. Many seized vehicles as well as other material were gutted in fire. Cops from the local police station were pressed in to maintain law and order, said the official. “The exact cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained and it will be done after thorough investigation into the incident,” said a civic officer.