GHAZIABAD: A massive fire broke out in a four-storey building in Kavi Nagar area around 7.30am on Wednesday. Eyewitnesses said the fire broke owing to short circuit in the building’s power metre box, and within 10 minutes, the fire engulfed the building.According to the fire rescue department, as soon as the fire broke out, a security guard informed cops, and fire tenders and cops reached the spot within 10 minutes.The building belongs to Ghaziabad resident Harpreet Singh. There is a departmental store (VDH store) on the ground and first floors, with the second floor used by the store as its warehouse.There was a well-known restaurant, Gola Sizzlers, on the third and fourth floors.An eyewitness said when the short circuit led to the fire in the electricity metre box, the building security guard tried to control it with a fire extinguisher, but failed. He then called the building’s owner, but by the time he had returned, the fire had gone out of control.Sunil Kumar Singh, chief fire officer of Ghaziabad, said eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot, two of which were requisitioned from Noida. Fortunately, nobody was injured.“It took over four hours to control the flames, due to the flammable material used to decorate the building’s interiors, including furniture in the restaurant,” Singh said.Owner Harpreet Singh said, “I received a call from the security guard in the morning that fumes were coming out of the metre box, which he had failed to to control. I immediately reached the building, but by then, the fire had engulfed the building.”He added, “I have lost over Rs 2-3 crore, but a final assessment can only be done by banks.” Only a few days ago, TOI had reported that in the wake of the fire at a hotel in Delhi’s Karol Bagh , where 17 people were killed, the Ghaziabad fire department had prepared a list of hotels, hospitals and residential societies that don’t have fire no-objection certificates.According to the report, there are over 300 hotels and 500 hospitals in the city, of which only 11 hotels and 18 hospitals have fire NOCs.There are also a total of 94 residential societies without fire NOCs.

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