Panvel: A fire broke out at a furniture godown in Panvel early Saturday morning and took over two hours to bring under control. Fortunately, the fire brigade's timely response prevented the flames from spreading to a hospital located on the first floor of the same building. However, the fire completely gutted all furniture and other items stored in the godown.
According to the Panvel Fire Brigade, the fire started around 6 a.m. on Saturday, prompting the deployment of six fire engines. "It took more than an hour and a half to control the fire," said Haridas Suryavanshi, Head of the PMC Fire Department. However, he noted that it took over three hours to fully extinguish the flames as they kept reigniting. "Due to the presence of combustible materials, the fire spread rapidly, destroying everything inside the godown," he added.
Suryavanshi further explained that the furniture shop had merged multiple units by removing the walls between them. "Had they kept the shops separate, the damage would have been minimal," he said, emphasizing that the fire brigade successfully prevented the blaze from spreading further. He also confirmed that the hospital in the same building remained unaffected.