Smoke from high-rise creates panic

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Smoke billowing out of a fourth floor  flat at Vellayambalam created panic on Monday morning. Firefighters who rushed to the scene discovered smoke coming out of a vessel used for burning frankincense which was kept on the balcony.Alerted by passersby at 11.36 am, three units from the Chenkalchoola station of the Fire and Rescue Service sped to Vellayambalam."The smoke was coming out of apartment D-4 of SFS flats opposite the Indira Bhavan. It was shut and the owners were not present. We had to break open the door and enter. Though the vessel was placed on the balcony, it was not visible from the ground,’’ an official at the Fire and Rescue Services control room said.An emergency tender and two mini mobile water tenders were deployed at Vellayambalam after receiving the alert. Fire officials said there was a chance of the fire spreading and causing a major mishap as inflammable objects, including an LPG cylinder, were present in the flat. Senior officials, including technical director K Sivanandan, were present at the spot.Recent fire mishaps in the city have put the Fire and Rescue Service on a high alert. Five shops were gutted at Valiyasala on the night of November 21 in one of the biggest fire mishaps in recent times in the district. On December 11, a private catering and decorations shop was gutted at Thycaud.