Fire breaks out in govt office building in Chandigarh

Some records and office equipment were destroyed in a major fire which broke out on the top floor of the Punjab Financial Corporation building at the city's main commercial complex in sector 17-B today.
It took eight fire tenders nearly 80 minutes to put out the flames in the four-storeyed building, near Bank Square, Station Fire Officer M L Sharma said, adding that no one was injured in the incident.
"The fire broke out on the top floor of the Punjab Financial Corporation (a state government undertaking) building. The office in which it broke out was rented out to the Punjab Accounts and Treasury branch. The officials of the branch had hired labourers to shift the files from there to their new office in the city when the fire broke out," Sharma told PTI.

He added that the reason behind the fire was not immediately known.
Eight hydraulic ladders had to be used by the Fire department officials to douse the flames, said Sharma.
"Records, office equipment, including computers and wooden cabins, were damaged in the fire. During the fire- fighting operation, the compressor of an air-conditioner burst, as a result of which the window panes on the floor broke, but no one was injured as we had cordoned off the entire area," he added.
Sharma said while the upper floor was damaged in the fire, the rest of the building was safe to use.

It maybe recalled that a major fire in a four-storeyed building in sector 17 in 2014 had led to its collapse.