MARGAO: A fire broke out inside the councillors’ chamber at the Margao Municipal Council building on Wednesday, sending staff and a few councillors scrambling to escape and extinguish the blaze. In a shocking lapse, the fire extinguishers in the building were found to be outdated, leaving the staff struggling to extinguish the fire.
The incident was reported at around 12.45 pm on Wednesday. Councillors Camilo Barretto and Mahesh Amonkar, besides other staffers, managed to douse the fire, which could have caused major damage to the important documents of the civic body.
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The councillors said it was a lucky escape as the room is used by all the councillors, and also expressed relief that the fire occurred in the daytime, and all the documents in the room could be saved.
The councillors have requested the Chief Officer and Chairperson to check on the civic body’s fire safety measures immediately.
Barretto said it was a panicky situation when he entered the building and witnessed the staff attempting to douse the fire on their own.
“We were lucky enough to douse the fire or it would have caused major damage to the municipal building, and destroyed precious documents,” he said.
He expressed frustration when found that the fire extinguishers hanging on the walls in the municipal building were outdated.
“I don’t know when the maintenance of the electrical wiring was done last. As this building is old and of heritage importance, there is an urgent need for proper maintenance,” said Barretto.
