Payyannur police yard fire razes 400 vehicles; loss pegged at ₹5 crore

Kannur: A wildfire, rising from a neglected stretch of land, spread to a police yard of impounded vehicles, gutting around 400 vehicles in Payyannur on Wednesday, fire officials said. Firefighters from 10 units across Kannur and Kasaragod battled the blaze for five hours from 1.30 pm before bringing it under control, said Payyannur Fire Officer Rajesh C P. The yard lies in isolation at Korom, about five kilometres from Payyannur town.

The blaze began around 1 pm from the neighbouring 40-acre property left untended. “There have been fire incidents there over the past few days. On Tuesday, we were on the ground from 11 am to 11 pm, dousing it,” Rajesh said, pointing to warnings that went unheeded as the owner stayed away. By Wednesday, the fire crept into the vehicle yard, a space with no fire line to hold back the spread, said Rajesh. “The yard had no buffer against a wildfire,” Rajesh said.

Of the roughly 400 vehicles stacked there, about 200 were destroyed, and another 200 were damaged. The loss, Rajesh said, is estimated at around ₹5 crore. The yard held vehicles from Payyannur and nearby police stations, including trucks seized in illegal sand mining cases. As flames fed on fuel tanks and tyres smouldered, firefighters struggled to contain the blaze. “We sprayed nearly two lakh litres of water over five hours,” Rajesh said. Units from Cheemeni and Trikaripur in Kasaragod joined teams from Kannur, with operations led by regional fire safety officer Ranjith P.