A massive fire that broke out at a three-storey textile complex in the city on Sunday evening caused heavy damage and kept the rescue forces on their toes for over five hours. As flames started spreading to more shops, more than 15 fire tenders were deployed to douse the fire.
Rescue team members said they received the distress call from the traders around 5 p.m. Though five units of fire tenders from various city stations were initially deployed at the site, the situation remained tense till the arrival of more units from other stations and districts, they said.
District Police Chief (Kozhikode City) T. Narayanan said no one sustained injuries as the rescue squads and local people had evacuated everyone from the spot. “As it was a holiday, there were only a few salespersons and customers. The private buses at the mofussil bus stop and vehicles parked on the commercial complex were shifted to safer locations on time,” he added. Inflammable materials, including LPG cylinders, were also quickly removed from shops.
Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran, who visited the accident spot, said a meeting would be held on Monday to look into the reasons behind the fire outbreak and review the efficacy of the rescue operations. The apprehensions raised by the traders about the rescue operations too would be discussed, he said.
District Collector Snehil Kumar Singh, who coordinated the rescue operations, said the reasons would be investigated with the help of an expert team. “There is no point in discussing allegations of building rule violations or fire safety norms without a proper investigation,” he said.
Merchant association functionaries said textile shop owners suffered a loss of about ₹50 crore in the incident as per preliminary estimate. They alleged that only very few fire tenders were available initially. The closure of Kozhikode beach fire station doubled the impact of the outbreak, they claimed.
Vehicular traffic was regulated for hours in the city to facilitate uninterrupted movement of fire tenders. The police had a tough time controlling the crowd that thronged the accident spot till 10 p.m.
Some of the volunteers said unauthorised extensions and alterations, set up in violation of fire safety norms and building rules, affected the pace of rescue operations. They said the fire exits remained blocked, making it difficult for the them to access the affected areas.
Published - May 19, 2025 10:45 am IST
