Jamshedpur, March 1: A major mishap was averted when as many 14 two-wheelers parked on the ground-floor of a four storied residential apartment caught fire at Kadma in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The fire is alleged to be a handiwork of some anti-social elements. First one bike caught fire and it soon spread to the adjoining 13 two-wheelers. Aside from the 14 two-wheelers, about half-a-dozen bicycles also caught fire one after another while the residents were sleeping. They woke up as their houses were filled with smoke emitted from the burning two wheelers.
As the news spread, fire-tenders from Tata Steel fire brigade and tge government fire station at Golmuri reached the spot to douse the razing flame.
The residential flat where the fire broke out is KF-2 Flat and it belongs to Tata Steel. Employees of the steel company are accommodated in the flats.
Significantly, while the residents of the apartment allege that the fire is a mischievous act by any anti-social elements, the police claimed that an electrical short circuit may be reason behind the fire.
Officer-in-charge of the Kadma police station Shankar Thakur confirmed the fire incident, but could not say whether the fire was a result of an electrical short-circuit or was intentionally triggered by any anti-social element.
“We are investigating into the incident. In fact, no one saw when and how fire caught the parked vehicles. We came to know about the incident only after getting complaints from the local residents. We are probing into the incident and are trying to find out reason behind the fire,” said Thakur.
The officer-in-charge said they are also consulting the utility services company Jusco, a Tata Steel subsidiary, which looks after the maintenance of the company quarters and residential flats, to get it ascertained if the fire was triggered by a short-circuit.
Thakur said they have received complaints from the residents whose vehicles were gutted in the fire.