Fire breaks out at tyre godown in Hyderabad's Vanasthalipuram, no injuries reported

A fire broke out at a tyre godown in Hyderabad on Sunday. The incident took place near Sushma theatre, following which authorities rushed to the spot to douse the flames. The fire broke out at around 5 pm in the evening on the eve of Diwali, and visuals showed thick smoke emanating from the building. “Immediately after receiving information about the fire, three fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the process to control the fire is on,” Srinivas, SFO, Vanasthalipuram fire station told ANI on Sunday night. While no casualties were reported, authorities asked those staying in neighbouring houses to vacate their houses temporarily, till the flames were brought under control. Besides officials of the Telangana State Disaster Response & Fire Services, authorities of the Enforcement,Vigilance & Disaster Management (EVDM) wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) also reached the spot. Speaking to the media, EVDM Director Vishwajit Kampati said, "We are trying to douse the flame on one side, while we are also considering forcibly making the structure collapse, to put out the fire. We have roped in JCB machines for this purpose.""With the help of the local police, we have evacuated those in neighbouring apartments and we are also removing potentially inflammable materials like gas cylinders," he added. The senior official also said that the operation to douse the fire was taking time, as it was heavy duty rubber, that was stored in the godown. He added that there was no cause for concern and said that the fire would be brought under control soon, as they were equipped to deal with the situation. Officials are yet to ascertain what may have caused the fire. In April last year, a huge fire had broken out at the Agarwal Rubber Industry at the Patencheru Industrial Area in Sangareddy district on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Read: 'The flames were as high as a building': Ground report from Hyd rubber factory fire