Twenty years later...

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) sources admitted to this reporter that inflammable scrap material that had been lying uncleared at the Shantinagar bus depot for the past 20 years was responsible for yesterday's fire.

Smoking hazard: Fire personnel attempt to douse fire at BMTC workshop at the Shantinagar bus depot yesterday. Pic/Vinod Kumar T

"While the BMTC cleared steel scrap, empty fuel barrels and rubber scrap had been left lying on the spot for the past 20 years. It was this junk that caught fire," explained a BMTC official.

The blaze was doused by the fire brigade, which reached minutes after the fire break out, before it could do any damage. The fire spread quickly because it contained diesel and grease.

For a while, the fire created panic in the city. The fire officials took nearly 5 hours to extinguish the fire completely.

	The Other Side
	Aravinda Chakravarthy, Director, security and vigilance, BMTC, said, "It is unlikely that the scrap has been lying there for the last 20 years. I do agree that it has been there for a very long time. We don't know how the fire broke out. As it was waste that caught fire, there has been no damage. We will clear the area as soon as possible."

Blame game

BMTC officials said the fire was caused by cigarette butts thrown by the daily wageworkers in the workshop. The workers refuted the allegations.

"Smoking is prohibited inside the workshop. We don't take cigarettes with us, when we enter the workshop premises," said a daily wage worker, who said it is probable that people living in buildings next to the compound may have thrown live cigarette butts into the compound. "It is also possible that some scrap aluminum heated under the afternoon sun may have come in contact with petroleum residue, causing the fire," said a worker.

GH Ravishankar, the regional fire officer, said the BMTC officials should have arranged for a crane so they could clear the spot.

Help delayed

"Had the BMTC provided us with a single JCB (a crane), we would have extinguished the fire within two hours."

The fire brigade took six hours and used 70 water tenders to extinguish the fire.

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