MALAPPURAM: A massive fire broke out in a paint godown at Thoovakkad in Edavanna in the district on Saturday afternoon. Official said no casualty was reported in the incident. But the fire fighters took several hours to bring the blaze under control. Several vehicles parked outside the building were gutted.According to fire force officials, the fire was spotted around 2pm in a portion of building. Four people who were working in the godown managed to escape immediately after noticing the flames.As many as 12 fire tenders from Malappuram , Nilambur, Thiruvali, Manjeri, Mannarkkad and Mukkam fire stations and from Karipur airport were pressed into service. Houses and residential buildings in the locality were evacuated within 30 minutes. The fire fighters struggled to bring he fire under control as the fire spread to the huge quantity of paint materials kept in underground cellar of the godown. Police and local residents also joined the operation.According to police, the fire was brought under control by 7.30pm. But, fire service personnel took more time to completely douse the fire that had spread to various parts of the godown. Edavanna police said that the reason for the blaze could be confirmed only after detailed examination of the mishap site. Meanwhile, fire and rescue officials suspect short circuit as the cause of fire.Residents said that large plume of smoke was seen spreading to the nearby areas and crops in the farmland in the areas near the godown were completely gutted.On Friday, a massive fire had broken out in a private hospital in Perinthalmanna in the district. No casualties were reported in the fire that broke out in the four-storey administrative block of the hospital due to battery explosion. Authorities managed to evacuate patients and staff immediately after the incident. The electrician of the hospital had suffered burn injuries in the incident.

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