More than 24 hours after a fire swept through a godown and partially gutted a school building and a gymnasium in south Delhi's Malviya Nagar, life was limping back to normal as evacuated area residents trooped back home and authorities allowed traffic to ply.
Firefighters were still busy hosing the charred remains of the godown in Khirki Extension that stored rubber sheets, hours after they had doused the flames, as smoke continued to emanate from the gutted building.
Though officials were not sure of the cause of the fire, they said the flames spread quickly due to the stored rubber.
School security guard Mansaram, who was witness to the fire at the godown, told IANS on Wednesday: "I and our Field Officer Arif went to the second floor of the school building and saw room windows on fire and thick smoke billowing out."
Arif informed the Delhi Fire Service. "It took an hour for firefighters to reach the spot. Luckily, the wind was not blowing towards the school or else...," Arif said.
The fire only spread when firemen used water to douse it, he said.
The School Chairperson and Principal too visited the school. "Thank God! Students were on vacation when the fire incident occurred," school Chairperson Kumar said.
She held the authorities responsible for the fire and demanded the immediate shutdown of the rubber sheet godown.
As a thick column of smoke spread to nearby houses due to the fire, area residents were shifted by police to a school five km away from the spot.
An area resident Rahul Sharma griped: "On Tuesday, my family had to stay put in a school for more than three hours without any facilities. We were surrounded by mosquitoes. As we were sleepy, we came back to our home."
The flow of traffic -- which was disrupted due to the fire -- was limping back to normal as police allowed most vehicles to pass through Khirki Extension during the day.
A firefighter said he and his colleagues were unable to breathe properly due to fumes from burning chemicals in the godown.
"Since Tuesday, I have been in this godown and didn't even get time to eat my breakfast," he said.
Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti visited the area on Wednesday and praised the firefighters and the disaster management authorities.
"The firemen risked their lives to douse the flames. I wish they had more equipment."
He said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was briefed on the fire incident. "We will leave no stone unturned to ensure such accidents never ever happen again," he said.
--IANS
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