Fire breaks out in post office building in Kollam, documents and furniture gutted

KOLLAM: A fire broke out in the civil station sub-post office which was working near the collectorate. Computers, electronic equipment, documents and furniture were gutted in the early morning fire. The initial conclusion is that there has been a loss of around Rs 5 lah. At around 8.55 am on Wednesday, the employee Kapil, who came to open the post office, first saw smoke coming from the room. Then the fire force was informed who came and extinguished the fire. The preliminary assumption points towards shot circuit as the likely reason the fire. It was raining so the fire did not spread to nearby buildings. There were leaks in some parts of the building. Kollam West Police and forensic experts reached the spot and collected evidence.

Historic building

The post office building that caught fire was the first headquarters of the Travancore Forest Department between 1830-1922. In 1922-23, Kerala's first forest college and then till 1957 Kollam's forest division and conservator's office functioned here. After this, the revenue department took over the building and gave it to the post office, labour court and sub-registrar's office.