Fire breaks out in several shops in Maharashtra's Washim

Washim (Maharashtra) [India], May 17 (ANI): A fire broke out in several shops located in the Shirpur Jain bus stand area of Maharashtra's Washim on Saturday morning. Fire tenders were promptly dispatched to the site, and the fire-dousing operations are currently underway.
Visuals from the scene show a thick plume of smoke billowing into the air from the fire-ravaged buildings. It is immediately not known what caused the fire to break out.
More information is awaited.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident on May 12, a fire broke out at a garments showroom on Peddar Road in the South Mumbai area of Maharashtra, leading to extensive damage to property.
The firefighters rescued a total of 19 people who were stuck in the terrace building due to smoke. Additionally, 2 dogs and 1 cat were also rescued. No injuries were reported as the fire started when the showroom was closed.
Divisional Fire Officer, E B Matle, told reporters that the fire broke out at around 6:30 AM on Monday at the Riyaz Ganji showroom.
"The garment showroom is there; it caught fire at 6:30 in the morning. The showroom was closed. Multiple things, the wiring, camera, garments, stock of looms, wooden partitions, hangars, everything was involved in the fire," the Divisional Fire Officer said.
"We broke the door, which is away from the entrance, and with four lines, two first aid lines, with the help of that, the fire was extinguished...The people who could not come down from the building due to the smoke were taken to the terrace, and even the animals were rescued," Matle added.
Maharashtra minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, who had come to the site of the incident, highlighted the problems faced by the people due to the fire as a new work week starts.
Prabhat told ANI, "The fire started in the Sukhshanti building at around 6:30 am. And. Many people are suffering. Today is a working day. There were senior citizens, everyone had to walk down the building, and it was still full of water, and people had to go up in the dark. So I asked the BST and fire brigade people to start a phase by draining the water and finding the reasons for the fire, and take appropriate action about it." (ANI)