Major fire breaks out in Excise office in Odisha’s Keonjhar, valuable assets gutted

Barbil: A major incident of fire occurred at the Excise Office located near Kiriburu Chhak under Barbil police limits in Keonjhar district, in the wee hours of today.

The exact reason behind the inferno as to how it took place has not been ascertained yet, a senior Excise official said.

According to a source, some locals spotted thick smoke emitting from the office building dead at night. Immediately, they informed about it to fire services office in the town. The blaze spread to other parts of the office building and several valuable assets of the office were engulfed in flames. Several important documents, seized vehicles, and other assets were reduced to ashes within half an hour.

On being informed, a team of fire services personnel reached the spot and doused the flames. The team had to strive for more than an hour to bring the inferno under control. The total valuation of gutted properties has not been known so far.

Meanwhile, Barbil police have initiated a probe into the incident of fire.