In a major accident, fire ravaged an illegal oil godown on Monday, destroying property estimated to be around Rs. 10 crore near Gollagudem main road, Amalapuram in East Godavari district.
According to source, the owners of the godown did not have the requisite permissions from concerned departments to store oil there.
According to inspector Murali Krishna Reddy, the fire was first noticed around 7 am by the residents living near the godown. They immediately alerted the police and the fire services.
Fire services personnel immediately pressed 3 fire tenders into service, but the blaze was uncontrollable. They then called for additional fire tenders from ONGC, Cairns and Reliance industries to help extinguish the flames.
The police and the fire department, meanwhile, evacuated people living in the neighbourhood to a safe distance.
The fire was finally brought under control after some time. The preliminary estimates put the loss of property to be around Rs. 10 crore.
Meanwhile, the Revenue Divisional Officer has taken up investigations on how was the building used to store oil near a residential area. The district fire department officials also revealed that the owner of the godown had not taken the requisite permission to set up an oil godown.
Firemen estimate that the blaze could have been triggered off by a short-circuit, but this is not yet confirmed.