A Level-III fire broke out early morning on Sunday at the Tardeo Regional Transport Office (RTO). While no casualties were reported, the blaze destroyed some vital documents like learner and driver licenses, along with furniture, computer hardware and other items housed in the RTO’s ground floor.
According to sources, vehicle registration documents have not been affected. In addition, the files destroyed – which also included age and address proofs – are said to have been backed-up on a separate server, thus preventing a critical loss of data.
The fire department was called at 5:20am, after which they rushed eight fire-fighting vehicles and two water tankers to the spot and successfully contained the fire by 8:10am.
While the source of the blaze is still being investigated, along with an assessment of the loss incurred, RTO officials have said that the situation could have been much worse if the fire reached the nearby CNG filling station.
Every day, more than 400 applicants take their driver’s test at the Tardeo RTO and until the fire damage is repaired, these tests will be conducted at a different block on the RTO premises.
Around three years ago, a similar fire incident had occurred at the RTO premises, which gutted a building near the one that went up in flames on Sunday. That building has yet to be re-built.