A fire broke out at a leather waste godown near Ambur in Tirupattur on Wednesday. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A massive fire broke out in a godown of leather and steel waste at Umarabad village near Ambur town in Tirupattur district on Wednesday. Goods worth lakhs of rupees were destroyed due to this.
Police said that an electrical short circuit may have started the fire. Seeing smoke coming out of the godown at around 7.45 am, local people and passers-by informed the Umarabad police.
The owner of the godown, 48-year-old K. Yesuraj reached the spot after hearing the news of the neighbors. In a hurry, fire tenders from Ambur town reached the spot and after an hour’s effort, the fire was brought under control. A minivan and leather trash were destroyed in the blaze.
The godown contained large quantities of leather waste and steel from the tanneries at Ambur and Vaniyambadi. The leather waste was kept in a warehouse before being recycled. Though the warehouse had a stock of over ₹ 20 lakh, the exact loss is yet to be ascertained.
Due to the large amount of leather waste, the fire brigade personnel had to face difficulty in extinguishing the fire. Another problem faced by the personnel was access to the affected area of the building. Police said they had to break down an adjacent wall to send fire engines to douse the blaze