Kolkata: The establishment on Camac Street-Park Street crossing where the fire broke out on Tuesday is surrounded by some of the busiest buildings, eateries, bars, offices and a nationalized bank, frequented by thousands every day. The fire triggered panic among people in the nearby buildings, who immediately fled out to the pavement across the road. Caretakers of neighbouring buildings gave firemen access to their reservoirs.
Employees of eateries in neighbouring 24, Park Street, who were gearing up to take over their shift, spent the morning and afternoon outside, waiting for the “all clear” from cops and fire department.Power had to be turned off at neighbouring Union Bank of India’s Camac Street branch, Celica Park, Magma House and the Park Centre building. In Magma House, behind the building that caught fire, people rushed to balconies to click photographs of the smoke. Within minutes, the short videos went viral on several social media platforms.
Park Centre at 24, Park Street, houses a market, more than five eateries and bars, including Barbeque Nation and Moti Mahal, and offices. The building has 10 floors. “Thousands visit the building every day. Due to the fire, the entire place was evacuated and power was switched off,” said Biswanath Sau, one of the caretakers of the building.
Several people working in 24, Park Street thought the fire had broken out in their building itself. “There was so much smoke that we could not even breathe. All of us rushed out, taking the stairs,” said Suman Ghosh, who works in a travel agency in the building.
Shreemanjari building, on the right side of the café where the fire occurred, houses offices, including a bank and a private educational institute. Krishna Kumar, an employee of the control room at this building said, “The office employees had started coming in when the fire broke out. The fire brigade personnel asked us to vacate the building and the offices were closed for the day.”
Work was suspended at Union Bank of India after power was switched off. “There was panic when the fire broke out in the next building. We scurried for safety and the electricity was switched off. We were afraid the fire would spread to our building, and our main concern was the vault. Thankfully, the fire hasn’t caused any damage to our bank but no transaction could be carried out,” said Habib Ali, regional manager.
Celica Park on 24, Park Street houses around 25 offices while an adjacent market has several shops. Sandeep Gupta, director of Celica Group, said, “All the people were evacuated from our building as soon as the fire was reported and the lights were switched off. We have 40 employees at the office whom we sent home.”
Business in the shops at the market went down after the fire. Ravi Chokhani, a businessman from Faboutique, said, “The area was barricaded by the fire brigade personnel. Though we opened the shop a few hours after the fire, there was no customer.”
Md Mudassir, owner of a footwear shop, said: “Around 10.30 am, I saw smoke outside and I ran to see the restaurant-cum-cafe on fire. We downed the shutters and rushed out. Power was disconnected for 30 minutes but things started going back to normal at 2.30pm.”