Major fire breaks out at Fishing harbor in Visakhapatnam

A fire broke out in a jetty area here in the early hours of Monday in which at least 35 fishing boats were gutted. The cause of the blaze, which broke out in the wee hours and was doused by around 4 am, is yet to be ascertained, the fire started in a boat in the zero jetty area and spread quickly. The fire broke out in an area near the Visakhapatnam Container Terminal and an Indian Oil Corporation facility where fishing boats were anchored. Firefighters rushed to the spot, Visakhapatnam District Fire Officer S Renukayya told PTI. The firefighters managed to control the fire from spreading to other boats in the vicinity within half an hour. It took almost two hours to douse the fire, he added. Visakhapatnam Deputy Commissioner of Police-Zone II K Ananda Reddy said the intervening night of Sunday and Monday was quite windy, causing the fire to spread quickly among the boats made of fibre (plastic) and anchored closely.