By Amit MoulickKOLKATA: A fire reportedly caused due to a short circuit in an electrical meter box at the ground floor garage of a five-storey building on Rash Behari Avenue sparked panic on Sunday morning with residents, including a 96-year-old orthopaedic surgeon, scurrying for safety.The fire, which was later controlled within two hours by two fire tenders, could have been worse for adjacent to the burnt meter box were seven LPG cylinders and a parked car. Worse, just above the meter box was a bar stacked with nearly 500 liquor bottles and more LPG cooking cylinders.Recounting the incident, former professor and head of the orthopaedic surgery department at National Medical College hospital, A P Dutta, said, “Two patients had come to me then. Suddenly, there was smoke all around and we could hardly breathe. People below had started shouting fire and urged all to get down immediately. My patients and the security guard helped me get down the stairs.” The doctor, who uses crutches to walk, said he and his wife Aarti, an octogenarian, were safe but pinned the blame on the first-floor non-residential outlet. “This could have been worse,” Dutta said sitting at his chamber at 78A Rash Behari Avenue later in the day. The complex is home to six families. According to locals, the fire damaged the rear portion of a car parked near the meter box.Fourth-floor resident Paramjit Singh claimed a similar fire had occurred in February and the residents were assured that the faults were repaired. “Again, there’s a fire today. The building security guard and locals were prompt. We could hear sporadic bursts from the electrical meter box which was in flames. Else it could have been worse.” Fifth-floor resident R K Mahajan claimed, “Seven LPG cylinders kept near the meter box and a few others in the floor above is a clear recipe for disaster. We had flagged this issue earlier but to no avail. Today, we could not breathe in the black smoke. The damage was contained but anything could have happened. Security guard Paresh had to be hospitalised.”Third-floor resident Tarun Das said, “When the fire broke out around 10:15am, everyone was at home. Suddenly, black smoke started bellowing out of the garage meter box. We nearly choked on it and started running down the stairs.” Fire brigade sources said they were examining claims that overloading led to the meter box short circuit and the subsequent fire.

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