Three firemen were injured while trying to douse a fire that engulfed a godown filled with chemicals near the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on Wednesday evening.
While one of them was hospitalised, the other two were discharged after administration of first aid.
Though 38 fire engines were deployed to douse the flames, they were unable to bring it under control even by Thursday morning. Fire department personnel sprayed water from three sides of the building even as smoke covered the entire area.
Operations at the airport, however, remained unaffected.
Sources said the fire was first detected around 7 pm on Wednesday. An explosion occurred around 11 pm, shaking houses in the neighbourhood. Police have launched a hunt for the godown owner, who is absconding.
Bengal has witnessed several fires over the last few months, most of them at medical institutions. Three people died in August last year, when a blaze erupted at the Murshidabad Medical College in Berhampore.