Chennai: A large quantity of government freebies including fans, mixies and grinders, meant for supply to families in Tambaram municipality went up in flames on Tuesday evening after an accidental fire broke out in a municipality school building in Selaiyur, where the items were stored.

Fire was noticed after all the students had left the school on Tuesday. There were 1,700 grinders, 980 fans and 851 mixies stored in the hall of the building, which was designated to be the school's a laboratory.

“These items were stored in the school for more than a year. We have been asking the revenue department to remove the freebies from the newly constructed school building so that we can use it for academic purposes,” noted Tambaram municipality commissioner R Mathivanan.

Two fire tenders were pressed to service to douse the fire. More than half of the stock was damaged in the fire, police said. Though revenue officials claimed that the fire was triggered because of suspected short circuit, local residents noted that power line going to the particular building was already snapped. Police are also probing a possible sabotage angle.

According to Loganathan, a local resident and activist, the building meant for school laboratory was taken over by the revenue department more than year ago.

“The Revenue department should stop using schoolrooms as godowns and should have their facility to stock things” he said. It may be recalled that in August last year in the same neighbourhood panic gripped after smoke started billowing from a large quantity of bleaching powder stored in a school building.