Fire breaks out at Ludhiana colony; goods worth lakhs gutted

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 20 

A fire broke out in a wooden-items shop at Bihari Colony on Tajpur Road here in the wee hours of Friday. Goods worth lakhs were gutted.

Two men sleeping in the shop had a lucky escape as they rushed out of the shop in time.

The incident occurred at around 3.30 am when a spark in the electricity cables caused the fire. As soon as the fire engulfed the shop, an LPG cylinder exploded. Three more cylinders also caught fire but they were safely taken out.

Fire tenders reached the spot in half an hour and struggled for two hours before containing the fire by 6 am.

Fire officials said the fire could not be controlled initially as the wood lying in the shop coupled with the cylinder blast aggravated it.

The shop lacked fire-safety equipment.