Some official records, furniture, and electronic items damaged
No one was injured in a fire that broke out at the Gujarat Pollution Control Board’s (GPCB) regional office in Jamnagar city Wednesday, but some official records, furniture, and electronic equipment were damaged, officers said. The fire in the government office comes around three weeks after 400 students in a Jamnagar’s private school were evacuated after a fire broke out in the campus.
The GPCB security guard noticed that a spark in the air-conditioner had caused the fire, following which the fire brigade were informed immediately, said GPCB regional officer (RO) Gaurang Bhatt, adding that the fire was cut off within half-an-hour.
According to Jamnagar Chief Fire Officer KK Bishnoi the fire was small and could have been put off by the staff using fire extinguishers in GPCB but the office was closed.
“There is a lot of smoke in the room and the GPCB officers are still assessing the damage caused by the fire,” Bishnoi said, adding that two fire tenders were deployed to fight the blaze.
The fire broke out in the first floor of the GPCB office, which is a two-storey building excluding the ground floor, said the RO. Claiming that the fire covered two rooms, Bhatt said that “The fire broke out in the technical section of the office which houses the chambers of our deputy and assistant engineers.” No one has been injured since the office was closed, Bhatt said.
The CFO Bishnoi said prima facie the fire was started by some electrical short-circuit.
The Jamnagar GPCB’s office has jurisdiction over Reliance Industries Limited’s oil refinery at Moti Khavdi, among the world’s largest oil refineries, as well as Nyara Energy Limited’s oil refinery at Vadinar in the adjoining Devbhumi Dwarka district.
Incidentally, the students had to be shifted to the school’s parking area after there was an electric short-circuit in the electric panel board on the ramp near the exit gate of the school. The incident took place in PV Modi School in Jamnagar’s Saru Section Road on June 18.