Evening fire at Park St cafe sparks panic
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Kolkata: Eight persons, three of them customers, had a lucky escape after a fire broke out in the kitchen of coffee chain Barista on Park Street on Friday evening. Panic spread among those at the cafe.
As the fire spread, other eateries in the area were also shut. However, there was no report of casualty. The cause of the fire is not known as yet.
The presence of a fuel station near the affected kitchen was a source of worry among establishments in the neighbourhood, as well as residents of Karnani Mansion next door. Firemen used the fuel station to tackle the blaze at the rear section of Barista where its kitchen is located.
"We are trying to keep the area cool, and keep it isolated from the fuel station," said a fireman.
Six fire tenders were in operation when reports last came in. Fire officials said the situation had been brought under control within an hour. Two lanes on Park Street in the flank opposite Flurys was cordoned off to allow fire tenders to operate. Sources said the firemen arrived promptly from the fire services headquarters on nearby Free School Street.
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According to diners who had converged at Park Street on Friday, smoke was first spotted at the cafe near the Park Street-Free School Street intersection around 9 pm. The cafe was evacuated as soon as the fire started to spin out of control. Gradually, ducting and other material caught fire, generating thick, black smoke.
As the smoke spread, other restaurants, including Wow! China, Wow! Momo, Flavours of China and Bar B Q, were also forced to suspend operations. A Vodafone outlet and other shops had to be shut down too. "The smoke was so intense and acrid that we could not continue operations," said a restaurateur. "There was panic on Park Street. I came out of my restaurant and saw the smoke. Wow! Momo and Wow! China were shut down immediately," said Siddhartha Kothari of Mocambo, Peter Cat and Peter Hu?
There was widespread relief the fire had been contained in time and there had been no loss of life. Many of those present in the area recounted another fire that hit the very building 18 years ago. In Aug 2007, a blast at a McDonald's a few shops away claimed the life of a local resident who was passing by. That blast had been caused by an LPG explosion.
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