A cold store was destroyed in a fire which broke out in a building in the Salem Tabri area near Chand Cinema in the wee hours of Tuesday. Firemen struggled for at least four hours to douse the flames at Satluj cold store.
While dousing flames, a commercial LPG cylinder, which was lying in the building, blasted, creating more hurdles for firemen during the rescue operation.

A fireman, Navrang Singh, sustained injuries as he slipped from a wall in an attempt to throw water to douse the flames. He was administrated first aid.
The reason behind the fire has not been ascertained yet, but it is being assumed that the fire broke out in the building due to a man-made mistake.

According to leading fire fighter Vijay Bhandhari, the fire flared up by a matchstick or cigarette.
Cold store owner Subodh Kumar sounded the fire brigade around 4.30 am when the labourers demolishing the building failed to douse the flames. Two fire tenders along with a team of fire fighters reached the spot.

Bhandhari said the cold store owner lives in the same compound along with his family. They all came out timely when the fire broke out on the premises. The labourers working in the building also came out in time.
He said the cold store was closed from the past 10 years and the owner was getting the building demolished for constructing something on the spot.
"Despite cylinder blast and injury to our colleague, we did not face any difficulty in the rescue operation," he added.