Kolkata, Dec 18 (IANS): Bhawanipur Swimming Club, the iconic swimming training center in Kolkata, which has traditionally gifted West Bengal with many talented swimmers, and counts Bengali matinee idol Uttam Kumar as one of its former members, was totally gutted by a devastating fire.

The fire broke out late Saturday night. Equipment worth lakhs of rupees has been reportedly damaged by the devastating fire. However, there has been no report of casualty so far.

Eyewitnesses said that the first spark of fire was witnessed a little after 11 p.m. However, because of the strong wind blowing last night the fire had soon spread.

But by the time seven fire tenders reached the spot almost the entire club premises was under fire. The employees, who used to stay at night there, managed to rush out and a few were evacuated. Later, three more fire tenders joined, taking the total number to 10.

After almost five hours of rigorous fire-fighting, the fire came under control early Sunday morning. Even the state fire services minister, Sujit Basu rushed to the spot to monitor the fire extinguishing process late Saturday night. Later the state power minister Arup Biswas also joined him and both were at the spot till the fire was totally under control.

It was learnt that there were a number of small cabins and locker-rooms within the club rooms with tin-shades due to which the inside of the club premises got heated even during the winter night.

Initial investigation has revealed that the source of the fire was some short- circuit in the electrical lines of the gymnasium within the club.

The state fire services minister, Sujit Basu said that the exact reason of the fire will be ascertained after detailed investigation into the matter. "The good thing was that the fire had not spread to the houses and shops near the locality," he added.