Around 80 shops were gutted in a massive fire that raged for over five hours at Chandni Chowk’s Nayi Sadak on Thursday evening. Over 40 fire tenders were deployed at the spot to douse the blaze, officials said. After the call regarding the fire was received at 5 pm, 14 fire tenders were initially rushed to the spot. But as the fire continued to rage, more and more fire tenders were sent over the evening. By 10 pm, over 40 fire tenders had tended to the fire over five hours. The fire continued to smoulder through the night. “The cooling process will continue till tomorrow,” said Deputy Fire Chief Sanjay Tomar. The fire started from a godown on the third floor of a building in Marwari Katra in Nayi Sadak, although fire officials have still not determined the cause. The building was determined to be structurally weak by fire officials and a part of it collapsed during the fire tending. “The building collapse has complicated matters. The water we’ve poured will seep down the rubble and dust. we’ll remove the rubble and continue the cooling process when the fire dies down,” said Tomar. It was over before we knew it: Shop owners Locals said around 80 shops were gutted in the fire. Shop owners in buildings nearby rushed to save their wares before the fire spread. Akash Jain, who owns a salwar-suit shop, was quickly packing his wares into white sacks when he said, “We saw the fire start sometime between 3 and 4 pm. it quickly spread into the trees. we saw ashes and sparks flying down from the flames and thought we need to get our things out before it spreads here too.” “The tin sheet next to the building was glowing red because of the heat,” said Babbi, who owns a fabric shop right next to the building that caught fire. His shop’s third floor, which was used as a godown, was fenced off by tin sheets. “We had to throw water on the shed to cool it down. I told my helpers to remove all the fabric because all the smoke and the water would ruin my things,” he said. While Babbi was lucky, Pankaj Gupta and his son Sanchit Gupta were not. Their shop, Rajdhani Saree Sadan which was on the ground floor of the burning building, was completely gutted. “It was more than 50 years old, the shop. we saw the fire coming from above, we couldn’t do anything. It was over before we knew it,” said Pankaj. According to fire officials on site, several hindrances caused the fire to spread rapidly. “The primary challenge was narrow roads and lanes. Then the wires hanging overhead made it difficult for our trucks to go in quickly. shops are also very small, closely situated to each other and densely packed with materials. this caused the fire to spread very quickly,” said a fireman who requested not to be named. The fire department has not reported any casualties. Senior Delhi minister Atishi also posted on social media regarding the fire. “I am in constant touch with the district administration regarding the fire incident in Chandni Chowk. It is God’s grace that no life has been lost in this incident.. In this season of scorching heat, I request all of you to not allow any possibility of short-circuit around you, take precautions, and stay safe,” she wrote on X.
