A fire broke out in a newly opened furniture outlet cum godown at Pudur village near Vaniyambadi town in Tirupattur on Sunday. Two employees working there escaped unhurt.
Police said that the incident occurredaround 6 a.m. K. Sampath, the owner of the shop, went to his outlet as part of his routine check,and noticed thick smoke coming out from the unit. Immediately, along with other employees and residents, he tried to douse the fire but it spread to the entire shop, which spans 2,200 sq.ft. Based on an alert, a 10-member fire fighting team from Vaniyambadi and Ambur towns came to the spot.
Firefighters doused the fire after nearly three hours of hard labour. They safely rescued the trapped employees in the godown. However, the entire facility got completely gutted. Tonnes of furniture including teakwood logs were destroyed in the accident. A probe is underway.