A minor fire broke out in the fifth floor of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) building in Chennai’s Parrys Corner in the wee hours of Tuesday. The fire was reportedly triggered due to an electric short circuit reducing many documents and electric appliances to ashes. The fire that started at 3.50 am was put out at 7 am after a three-and-a-half hour operation. No one was there at the office during the time of the mishap.
According to sources in the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Department, “We received a call from the public at around 3.50 am informing us about the fire breakout at the LIC building. Immediately we pushed seven fire tenders into action. The fire tenders were from places including Esplanade, Washermenpet, Royapuram, Egmore, Tondiarpet and Triplicane. Around 4 am, our personnel reached the place and started the operations.”
“The operation was carried out for more than three hours and the fire was put out at 7 pm. However, by then the fire gutted important files in the fifth floor of the building,” the source added.
A station officer of the Tondiarpet fire station said, “The fire was reported from the fifth floor of the six storey building. The blaze was due to an electric short circuit from the air conditioner. Our team skillfully managed the break out and put out the fire within the 500 sq feet area without letting the blaze stretch to the 4500 sq feet total area.”
“We didn’t register any case. The LIC also didn’t give us any complaints. We have estimated the loss of documents and electric appliances at Rs 48,000. However, we saved files, computers and other products worth Rs 9 lakh,” the station officer said.