Fire officials said the preschool was closed due to Sunday, so no casualties were reported in the incident. But furniture and other items at the school were damaged. (Express photo)Written by Pranoy MishraA domestic LPG cylinder blast at the basement of a pre-school, Kidzee, located on the premises of Orchid society in Wagholi, left the residents shocked on Sunday evening. Meanwhile, the Pune city police are conducting an inquiry into the incident.A resident said, “I was watching the IPL match when we heard a loud explosion. Initially, it felt like my balcony fell away…..A little girl was actually the first among us to spot the fire. She informed her father, who further told everyone else. Soon, we evacuated the society buildings quickly and let the authorities do their job.”“When we heard the commotion outside, we decided to go and see what had happened. I thought it was a transformer that exploded. We later came to know that an LPG cylinder had exploded at the preschool. We moved vehicles that were parked close to the preschool building,” said another resident.The residents were clueless on how and why the LPG cylinders were kept at the preschool. According to Atul Mittal, part of the managing committee of the institution that runs the preschool, there was an LPG cylinder on the first floor, in the kitchen, which was retrieved safely by the fire brigade.“However, there was a smaller, nearly empty cylinder on the ground floor, placed there presumably for safekeeping, which exploded in the incident. The small LPG cylinder was also supposed to be kept on the first floor, in the kitchen. We are trying to figure out who is responsible for this…,” said Mittal.According to the fire brigade, the fire was reported below the staircase around 6.15 pm. Teams of Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) and Pune fire brigade rushed to the spot immediately.Story continues below this adFire officials said the preschool was closed due to Sunday, so no casualties were reported in the incident. But furniture and other items at the school were damaged.Mittal said the cause of the fire was identified to be an electric short circuit. “The inverter batteries kept there were also set alight, which aggravated the fire. The fire brigade was informed. Firemen brought the situation under control within 15 minutes. The fire was contained to the basement area. The fumes travelled through the staircase, making it seem bigger than it was. We request all people to not believe in any other rumours,” he said.Asked if there was any negligence, senior police inspector Nandakumar Gaikwad of Wagholi police station said that an inquiry into the fire incident is on. “As of now, it is learnt that fire was caused due to a short circuit,” he said.Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:LPG