Major Fire Breaks Out in Furniture Shop at Chandanagar
Huge flames engulf furniture store; fire crews rush to contain the blaze as thick smoke billows from the building.
Hyderabad: A major blaze, suspected to have erupted from decorative lighting or a flex board, left a four‑storey furniture showroom building badly damaged and motorists stuck in a jam on the Hyderabad–Mumbai Highway in Chandanagar late on Wednesday night. No casualties were reported as the shop was closed at the time of the incident.
Fire officials reported battling for seven to ten hours until the blaze was brought under control. Nearly eight teams from different fire stations were involved in the operation. This is the second fire incident in the city in about six weeks, with four persons having been killed in a blaze at a similar outlet in Nampally on January 25.
Different fire officials received calls from motorists at varying times after the fire occurred, and teams were dispatched immediately. Operations started at around 11 pm on Wednesday and ended around 8 am on Thursday.
According to Kukatpally Station Fire Officer (SFO) T. Jagan Mohan, the fire occurred at one of the two shops of Anu Furniture, located adjacent to each other. “The building lacked fire safety norms. There is only one access passage to the building, located through a narrow lane beside it. This forced us to conduct all firefighting operations from outside.”
He further said that on inquiry they found the building lacked a fire NoC (No‑Objection Certificate). While the building is nearly 40 years old and does have permission from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), one of the floors is suspected to be an unauthorised construction, officials said.
Madhapur SFO D. Anjaneyulu said the fire intensified and gutted all four floors due to furniture stored inside, which is highly flammable. “By the time we reached, the entire building was burnt. It was going to spread to a hospital nearby, but timely action by our teams prevented that from happening.”
Chandanagar inspector Vijay Sunkari said that, based on a complaint by the HR manager of the outlet, a case of fire accident was registered. The complainant said the estimated property loss is around ₹75 lakh. Further investigation into the incident is under way.
Officials said the accident led to a huge traffic jam, and traffic cops reached the spot and cleared it.
