123456 Kolkata: Around 350 employees working in different offices located in a commercial building at the AJC Bose Road-Ballygunge Circular intersection at Beckbagan near Minto Park had to be evacuated on Saturday afternoon after a fire broke out on the fifth floor.Though eight fire tenders brought the fire under control in an hour, the office where the fire started was completely gutted while the one immediately above was partially affected. No one was injured.Traffic slowed down for nearly an hour on the AJC Bose Road Flyover as fire tenders were parked on one lane in the Rabindra Sadan-bound flank as firemen trained the hose at the fire from the vantage spot. Firemen said access to the flames from the flyover helped contain the fire that could otherwise have spread.According to the police, the fire started in Krishna Building's room no. 515, which houses the office of a Haryana-based company, HPL Additives Pvt Ltd. The fire, suspected to have been caused by a short circuit in one of the ACs spread to two other ACs. The flames then leapt to the 6th floor which was partially damaged. The office of the polymer additives company was gutted, according to fire brigade personnel.A fire brigade officer said, "We are probing the exact cause of the fire. Prima facie, a short circuit in one of the ACs was believed to have triggered the fire. The extent of damage has not been ascertained yet." During firefighting, cops had to break open locked offices and shatter window panes.Since March, this was the fourth fire incident in a commercial building after ones at Narkeldanga, Mechhua fruit market, and Bowbazar. About 170 offices operate in rented accommodations in the G+10 Krishna Building, which was established in 1995. Each floor of the building has 15-17 offices. Besides, there are two showrooms on the ground floor: one of a furniture brand and the other of an automobile company.The incident sparked panic among those working in the building as they left their belongings and scrambled out. Joy Mondal, whose office was next to the one where the fire had started, said, "Three of us were working when we smelt a pungent smell of something burning. We then spotted smoke billowing out of the office adjacent to ours. The maintenance team evacuated us." Another office employee on the same floor, Kushal Surana, said, "We don't know whether we will be able to attend office from Monday.Until an NOC is obtained, no work will be allowed in the building."Sources said two employees of the additives firm came to work on Saturday but they reportedly left after the fire. Snehasis Bhowmik, an employee of an office on the third floor, said, "I heard people were screaming and running helter-skelter. Sensing trouble, I ran out and saw a fifth-floor office of our building was up in flames. A major accident could be averted because several offices were closed on Saturday." On weekdays, about 700 people come to work in the building, but with several offices being closed on Saturday, the turnout was around 350, according to Chiranjit Sarkar, manager of the building. Sarkar said, "The fire broke out around 2.55 pm, and we started the firefighting with the extinguishers installed in the building. I called up the fire brigade, which arrived at the spot after some time and controlled the fire.About 50-60 people were on the fifth floor when the fire occurred. They were evacuated from the building. As the fire alarm kept buzzing, those who were in their offices on other floors also rushed out of the building safely."Initially, the fire brigade faced hurdles in accessing the source of the fire from the road. So, they had to carry out their operations from the flyover. A police officer said, "Traffic movement slowed down on the flyover, but the road was not blocked. The traffic became normal after an hour. The firefighting arrangement in this commercial establishment will be examined."Kolkata: Around 350 employees working in different offices located in a commercial building at the AJC Bose Road-Ballygunge Circular intersection at Beckbagan near Minto Park had to be evacuated on Saturday afternoon after a fire broke out on the fifth floor. Though eight fire tenders brought the fire under control in an hour, the office where the fire started was completely gutted while the one immediately above was partially affected.No one was injured.Traffic slowed down for nearly an hour on the AJC Bose Road Flyover as fire tenders were parked on one lane in the Rabindra Sadan-bound flank as firemen trained the hose at the fire from the vantage spot. Firemen said access to the flames from the flyover helped contain the fire that could otherwise have spread.According to the police, the fire started in Krishna Building's room no. 515, which houses the office of a Haryana-based company, HPL Additives Pvt Ltd. The fire, suspected to have been caused by a short circuit in one of the ACs spread to two other ACs. The flames then leapt to the 6th floor which was partially damaged. The office of the polymer additives company was gutted, according to fire brigade personnel.A fire brigade officer said, "We are probing the exact cause of the fire. Prima facie, a short circuit in one of the ACs was believed to have triggered the fire. The extent of damage has not been ascertained yet." During firefighting, cops had to break open locked offices and shatter window panes.Since March, this was the fourth fire incident in a commercial building after ones at Narkeldanga, Mechhua fruit market, and Bowbazar. About 170 offices operate in rented accommodations in the G+10 Krishna Building, which was established in 1995. Each floor of the building has 15-17 offices. Besides, there are two showrooms on the ground floor: one of a furniture brand and the other of an automobile company.The incident sparked panic among those working in the building as they left their belongings and scrambled out. Joy Mondal, whose office was next to the one where the fire had started, said, "Three of us were working when we smelt a pungent smell of something burning. We then spotted smoke billowing out of the office adjacent to ours. The maintenance team evacuated us." Another office employee on the same floor, Kushal Surana, said, "We don't know whether we will be able to attend office from Monday.Until an NOC is obtained, no work will be allowed in the building."Sources said two employees of the additives firm came to work on Saturday but they reportedly left after the fire. Snehasis Bhowmik, an employee of an office on the third floor, said, "I heard people were screaming and running helter-skelter. Sensing trouble, I ran out and saw a fifth-floor office of our building was up in flames. A major accident could be averted because several offices were closed on Saturday." On weekdays, about 700 people come to work in the building, but with several offices being closed on Saturday, the turnout was around 350, according to Chiranjit Sarkar, manager of the building. Sarkar said, "The fire broke out around 2.55 pm, and we started the firefighting with the extinguishers installed in the building. I called up the fire brigade, which arrived at the spot after some time and controlled the fire.About 50-60 people were on the fifth floor when the fire occurred. They were evacuated from the building. As the fire alarm kept buzzing, those who were in their offices on other floors also rushed out of the building safely."Initially, the fire brigade faced hurdles in accessing the source of the fire from the road. So, they had to carry out their operations from the flyover. A police officer said, "Traffic movement slowed down on the flyover, but the road was not blocked. The traffic became normal after an hour. The firefighting arrangement in this commercial establishment will be examined."