A line of shops at the Sri Lanka Transport Board bus stand at Thanathulla, Kuliyapitiya, went up in flames yesterday afternoon and was brought under control only after at least 4 shops were gutted, the Daily News learns.
Workers at the bus station told the Daily News last afternoon that bus crews, shopkeepers, and local volunteers were battling the fire with water baskets buckets.
Asked if there were any fire engines dousing the fire at that time, they said there were no fire engines, but that the fire was being fought with a water bowser. “The fire has gutted four shops and the flames are spreading,” he said.
Kuliyapitiya Police said they managed to put the fire out using a water bowser from their police station and a tractor from the Kuliyapitiya Urban Council.
There were neither deaths nor casualties due to to the fire, sources at the Kuliyapitiya police station said.
Kuliyapitiya Municipal Council Mayor Lakshman Adhikari and Deputy Mayor Shelton Wanasingha were seen at the fire scene helping in the supervision.
The cause of fire has not been determined officially at the time this story went to press. Local sources said that the cause may have been a leak from a gas cylinder at a cafe in the line of shops that caught fire.