ONE BOLERO AND FIVE CARS FULLY GUTTED AT FARMAGUDI

PONDA: One Bolero jeep and four cars were fully gutted at the Goa Engineering College ground at Farmagudi on Sunday evening after flames from a fire that was lit to burn the dry grass in the vicinity, spread on to them. The owners had parked their vehicles on the ground and were attending a religious programme organised by a Trust when the incident occurred.

The Fire and Emergency Services personnel, who battled the fire and doused off the flames using three fire tenders - two from Ponda and one from Kundaim - estimated the loss at `25 lakh.

Though it was a 2-day programme with a large attendance, the organisers had failed to inform the fire station and police officials in advance. "It was a two-day programme. There were around 400 private cars, 50 buses and several other two wheelers parked at the ground, some distance away from the programme spot. We were not informed about the programme earlier. Had we been informed in advance, we would have deputed staff to monitor the place," said Assistant Station Fire Officer, Ponda, Mr Rahul Desai.

He provided the registration numbers of the gutted vehicles as GA04 C 3467 (Bolero jeep), GA02 A 1543 (Maruti Omni), GA02 C 9385 (Maruti Zen), GA08 F 3140 (Maruti SX4) and GA02 C 9733 (Matiz). According to the fire brigade sources, the incident occurred at around 3.30 p.m. Police informed that there was no complaint received at the police station regarding the incident. However a fire accident has been registered and the police have ruled out any foul play.