Shops, two-wheelers destroyed in fire near Arunachaleswarar temple

A 35-year-old worker suffered burn injuries when a shop selling pooja products caught fire, burning two shops and seven two-wheelers on Kamatchi Amman temple street near Arunachaleswarar temple in Tiruvannamalai town on Wednesday.

Police said the injured person was local resident Muhammad Ali. Initial investigation revealed that it was around 9.20 pm on Wednesday when the shop owner, S. Sabeer Ahmed, noticed smoke coming from the electrical box in the shop, located on the ground floor of a single-storey commercial complex with around 30 shops.

Police said a large quantity of camphor stored near the electrical box caught fire after a spark from the electrical unit. The fire spread to the entire shop of approximately 100 square meters within minutes. While screaming for help, Sabeer Ahmed and his worker Ali, who suffered burns on both hands, were rescued by other shopkeepers and local residents.

On alert, Tiruvannamalai Town police and firefighters from Arunachaleswarar Temple rushed to the spot. An eight-member fire brigade team led by Station Fire Officer (SFO) A. Palaniswamy struggled to contain the fire from spreading to other shops and buildings in the narrow area.

“We completely extinguished the fire and smoke around 6.45 am on Thursday. The incident took place about a kilometer away from the Arunachaleswara temple,” Mr. Palaniswamy said. Hindu.

Police said that after the fire was contained on the ground floor of the building, it did not spread to the first floor, where the shop owner had stocked around two tonnes of camphor for sale during the Karthigai Deepam festival.

Police said the cause of the incident may have been a short circuit in the electrical box. An investigation is ongoing.