The Fire department has said that a fan running nonstop in the Kerala secretariat building led to the fire. The fire broke out at the protocol office of the General Administrative Department (GAD) of the secretariat.
The fan running nonstop resulted in short circuit and produced smoke. However the fire broke out due to a gust of wind when the Fire Force personnel opened the room, according to Fire Services DGP R Sreelekha’s report.
Another inquiry by the Public Works Department also found the ceiling fan to be the cause of the fire. The police will also check surveillance cameras installed in the area where the fire erupted.
According to reports, despite an air conditioner being installed in the room, the wall fan was running continuously. The plastic material in the portion where the fan’s motor was, also began to melt and fall. The melted parts fell on the curtains and papers burning them and creating smoke.
As all of the windows were closed, the smoke filled up the room and soon spread outside through the doors. The fire force unit at the secretariat was alerted immediately.
The state government is now waiting for the report of a committee formed under the Disaster Management Commissioner A Kaushik, with experts from various departments, probing the cause of the fire.
Several protests had broken out earlier this week with cadres of the Congress and the BJP alleging that the fire was deliberately started by the ruling LDF in order to burn files which could become evidence in the controversial gold smuggling case.
However, leaders of the ruling LDF have reiterated that no files were destroyed as all of them had been transferred to the e-file system.