Panaji, March 17 (IANS): Firefighters Monday managed to save a scared, screeching parrot from a flat that was charred following a fire caused by gas leakage here in the Goa capital, an official said.
Fire services officer Bosco Ferrao said that while the occupants of the second floor flat at Noble Residency near Panaji fled just as the fire started to rage, the parrot trapped in a cage was left behind.
A gas cylinder explosion caused most of the damage.
"We reached just in the nick of time. The fire hadn't reached the cage which was in a lower level. Everything in the flat was otherwise charred," Ferrao told IANS.
The flat was occupied by Pappan Yadav, whose family was frying a huge quantity of samosas that were ordered by sweetmeat stores to be sold on Holi.
Damage caused by the fire was estimated at around Rs.8-10 lakh.
"It's a wonder how the parrot survived," the official said.