According to Sub-Divisional Engineer (Stores) J B Kapadia, the fire was reportedly caused by a burning cracker that fell in the store's compound around 12.15 a.m. The crackers, according to Kapadia, were set off by some revellers celebrating `dev diwali' last night.

Kapadia said the crackers fell on liquid TSF, a highly inflammable material, stored in a large quantity. ``Three of the night-duty workers tried to put off the fire by throwing buckets of water, but could not succeed'', he stated, adding that the fire soon spread to other areas.

The fire brigade was informed immediately and four fire tenders, along with seven water tankers reached the spot immediately. About 40 fire-fighters from Vadodara Municipal Corporation battled for more than three hours to extinguish the fire, which was controlled around 3.45 a.m., Kapadia said.

Besides him, Deputy General Manager (Planning) N M Upadhyaya and Assistant General Manager V P Lal rushed to the spot promptly to oversee the fire fighting operations, Kapadia added.

Even the watchman's hut, furniture and some store records were gutted in the fire. Large quantities of drop wire and underground cable rolls were also destroyed.