A fire broke out on the ground floor of a building in the Ganga Mandir area of Cuttack during the early hours of Friday, triggering panic among local residents and nearby shopkeepers.

The blaze reportedly broke out inside a store room located on the ground floor of the building. Preliminary suspicion is that the fire may have been caused due to a short circuit, though the exact reason is yet to be officially confirmed.

Three rooms engulfed in flames

After receiving information, three fire tenders along with more than 10 fire services personnel rushed to the spot and launched firefighting operations.

Deputy Fire Officer Abani Swain said firefighters had to break open the door to enter the affected portion of the building after flames spread across three rooms on the ground floor.

“We received information about the fire and immediately rushed to the spot. After reaching there, we broke open the door and started firefighting operations. Three rooms on the ground floor had caught fire,” he said.

He further said plastic materials, plywood, wooden furniture and several business-related items stored inside the rooms fuelled the blaze and led to heavy smoke inside the building.

Thick smoke creates challenge for firefighters

Though the fire was later brought under control, dense smoke inside the building created difficulties for firefighters while entering the affected rooms and carrying out cooling operations.

Fire services personnel continued efforts to clear the smoke from inside the building to prevent the fire from spreading further.

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No casualty or injury has been reported in the incident so far. The exact extent of property damage is yet to be assessed.