Fire Under Control in Large Cotton Storehouse in ShanghaiA fire in a large cotton storehouse in the suburbs of Shanghai has been brought under control. No casualties were reported and fire experts said it needs more time to put out the fire completely.The five-story building, used as cotton storehouse for the Shanghai branch of China Agricultural Productive Materials Corp., caught fire 4:50 a.m. Monday. The fire was first discovered on the third floor of the building, and the fourth and fifth floor caught fire later. The storehouse has a capacity of 20,000 square meters and about 3,000 tons cotton was being stored there at the time of the fire. Witnesses said the smoke could be seen one kilometer away when the fire was at its peak. The roof of the building was burnt down, according to the fire department. Cotton, densely stacked, left little room for firemen and thick smog added difficulty to fire-fighting work. The city's fire department sent a total of 70 fire engines and near 1,000 fire fighters to the spot. The fire experts said surface flame was easy to put out, but high temperature and sparks in the interior will highly probably trigger another fire. The cause of the fire was under investigation. |
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