PANAJI: A massive fire broke out at Camarabhat slum area in Taleigao on Saturday afternoon after two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders exploded causing panic among the residents. No casualty or injury was reported in the mishap except for a family’s pet dog, which died in the fire.
The two gas cylinder explosions led to five shanties getting burnt but a major tragedy was averted, as the occupants of these shanties were outside the state to attend a marriage in Kolhapur. Of the five shanties gutted in fire, one was reduced to ashes.
According to fire official, the shanties belonged to Ramchandra Kholkar, Parshuram Gudanwal, Yeshwant Kudanwal, Sanjay Harijan, Baswani Pujari and Suresh Megeri.
Fire department officials said three fire tenders were rushed to the spot immediately after receiving a call at 4.19 pm and the flames were brought under control. They said that apart from the death of a dog, a two-wheeler, electronic goods, other household items and some important documents were destroyed in the fire.
According to the fire department officials, the cause of the blasts is yet to be determined. A fire official said that the cause of the blasts is under investigation and that they are enquiring with a gas company official to ascertain the cause of blasts.
According to the local residents, they first heard a loud explosion followed by a rapidly spreading blaze that progressed to the neighbouring shanties. One of the residents of the area, who was in his house when the fire broke out, said, “There was panic as people ran to save themselves. Some of us quickly pulled out cylinders from our homes and dumped them in a nullah to avoid more blasts.”