By IANS,
Agra : Over 1,000 tyres were destroyed in a fire that broke out in a tyre depot in Agra late Friday and raged until early Saturday.
Fire fighters from the fire brigade, the military, the Central Ordnance Depot and later from the Mathura oil refinery battled the massive blaze that engulfed the entire three-storey structure in Transport Nagar.
“It was only around 5 a.m. that the fire could be contained,” said a police official.
There was panic in Transport Nagar, on the highway to Delhi, where hundreds of shops sell motor parts, rubber tubes and tyres.
Arvind Choudhary, who owns the tyre depot, says the losses could be over Rs.5 million because over 1,200 tyres were burnt and there was also loss to the property.
Fire brigade sources complained that the depot was virtually sealed from all sides and there were hardly any escape points or windows. “The fire fighters had no way to enter the building,” said an official. The wall of the depot had to be demolished to make their way in.