Chennai: Fire which broke out at the Chennai Silks' garment showroom on South Usman Road in T Nagar on Wednesday morning, refused to die down until late evening.
More than 150 firemen were pressed into service in an operation that was evidently challenging. Fire personnel lamented that lack of proper ventilation in the building left no gateway for the smoke to exit the building. Firemen employed the services of an earthmover to pull down a portion of the wall from the back of the building around 1 pm to allow escape of the smoke and facilitate better access into the building. "We also had to drill holes and break open window panes in each of the floors," a fireman told DC.
Apart from the 15 tenders deployed, TNFRS also sourced help from metro water tankers and some private contributors who helped with heavy equipment.
Panic spread around noon as the building started to develop cracks in some places. Until 8 pm, plumes of smoke were still emanating from the building. "We were able to control fire in all the floors except on the sixth floor," a fire personnel told DC.
Several officials, including city police commissioner A. K. Viswanathan, TNFRS director S. George surveyed the scene and oversaw operations. Finance minister D. Jayakumar who visited the scene promised action against anyone found guilty of violating norms. Fire personnel say that the work is expected to continue until Thursday.
