12 huts gutted in fire at Chennai's Dooming Kuppam, faulty transformer blamed

No casualties were reported in the incident.
12 huts gutted in fire at Chennai's Dooming Kuppam, faulty transformer blamed
12 huts gutted in fire at Chennai's Dooming Kuppam, faulty transformer blamed
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A fire in the early hours of Saturday gutted almost 12 huts in Dooming Kuppam area in Foreshore Estate in Chennai causing damage to property worth Rs 45,000. A thick cloud of dark fumes engulfed the area. No casualties were reported in the incident.

While people in the area attributed a short circuit in the transformer as reason for the fire, investigations by the police also led to the same conclusion. They also added that since most of the occupants were asleep in the open on the beach sands, due to stiff summer nights inside huts, the accident thankfully did not cause any loss of lives.

Speaking to TNM, an officer from Mylapore police station says, “There seems to have been a power problem in the area. On Friday, the supply was interrupted for about 10 times. This could have resulted in the transformer malfunctioning and the fire starting as a result.”

An official employed with the Electricity Board, however, refutes that the fire was the result of a transformer fault. “If the transformer was at fault, it will take at least half a day for us to fix it. Power was restored in the area as soon as fire was doused, by 6 am. Moreover, we frequently maintain the 30 transformers on the beach line,” she said.

Spot Officer I Muhammad Ayub from the Fire department says, “We got a call around 4 am and three fire station vehicles, one each from Mylapore, Teynampet and Triplicane stations, rushed to the spot. It took us about 1.5 hours to completely put it out.” Officers also informed TNM that there were about 21 huts in the area.

Earlier this week, on Monday, a major fire in Metro Water owned land near Koyambedu market caused serious concern among commuters and residents in the area. Visuals of thick smoke billowing over Koyambedu area were circulated online. Almost 100 acres of dry grass caught fire and four fire tenders were pressed into service immediately. No casualties were reported.

In February this year, a sudden fire at a private car park in Chennai’s Porur gutted several hundred cars. Eight fire trucks from Egmore were immediately deployed and the situation was brought under control after a few hours.

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