Ghaziabad:
Four shops were gutted when a fire broke out in a furniture market in Indirapuram area here during Diwali celebrations, fire officials said today.
Though there was no casualty, property worth lakhs of rupees was damaged in the fire which broke out last night in Abhay Khand, they said.
The fire officials said that some adjacent flat owners were bursting firecrackers on their terrace on Diwali when a cracker fell on the bamboo roof-top of one of the shops.
Eight fire tenders from across the city were pressed into service and it took them one and a half hours to douse the flames, a fire official said.
Eye-witnesses said the fire started at a furniture shop in which various wooden and plastic furnishings were kept covered in polythene sheets. This fire then got spread to the neighbouring shops and some flats.
Several goods including wooden and plastic chairs, sofas, beds, plywood, boards, office furniture and cupboards were destroyed.
