Rs 1 crore worth mirchi, cotton gutted in fire at Mahbubabad

WARANGAL: A fire broke out in a storage facility due to short circuit, burning 6,000 bags of cotton and mirchi worth about Rs 1 to ashes at Mahbubabad on Sunday.

The storage facility which belongs to private rice millers is situated on the outskirts of Mahbubabad town on the Yellandu road. As it was Sunday, the mill was closed. With not many houses in the vicinity, the fire could not be noticed early. Some passers-by called up the fire department when they saw flames and thick smoke gushing from the storage unit.

There was only one fire tender available in Mahbubabad town and the fire station too had limited staff. With the fire spreading to the entire building by the time the fire brigade arrived at the scene, it became difficult for the firefighters to put out the blazing flames.

In addition, the burning mirchi made things worse as the firemen could not enter with their eyes open. The firefighters put out the flames by about 2 pm but not before the entire stock was burnt down. 

The owners of the mill claimed that the cotton and mirchi belonged to several farmers who had stored their stock there after the sudden thunderstorm on Thursday. However, the police said that they had not received any complaint from farmers claiming their cotton or mirchi was gutted in the fire.