Team Goemkarponn
PORVORIM: Optical fibre cable worth ₹1 crore was destroyed and two tempos sustained damage in a fire that broke out on Tuesday morning outside the godown of Ethernet Express, near the KTC bus depot in Porvorim. The company suspects the incident to be a case of arson.
According to Deputy Fire Officer Sunny Faide of the Pilerne Fire Station, the fire brigade received an alert at around 8:35 am and immediately dispatched a fire tender to the scene.
“The blaze proved difficult to contain as it kept reigniting. We had to call in a JCB to separate the optic fibre cables, which helped in finally dousing the flames after roughly 90 minutes,” Faide said.
The fire completely gutted the fibre optic cable stock, and two tempos — bearing registration numbers GA-03-N-7146 and GA-03AH-0823 — were also damaged.
Ethernet Express has pegged the total damage at around ₹1 crore. While the precise cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, the company has indicated that it may be a deliberate act.
Porvorim PSI Sitaram Malik and Constable Madan Tari later conducted a panchnama at the site. An investigation is ongoing.
