Exemplary feat by firemen

By Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

When fire broke out on the first floor of the Lucky Plaza building at Kollupitiya more than 400 persons were evacuated in the nick of time before the fire spread to other areas of the building, Colombo Fire Brigade Chief, J. Kannangara told the 'Sunday Observer.'

He said except for one Army personnel no one else sustained injuries while the rescue operation was on, from the first floor. The soldier had sustained injuries from shattered glass.

A 42 meter ladder was used to evacuate persons trapped on the first floor without any hassle. "We rushed several fire fighting vehicles to the scene on time. Other vehicles from the Sri Lanka Air Force and the Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia Municipality also took part in dousing the fire. Altogether 10 fire fighting vehicles managed to tackle the fire" he said.