A massive fire broke out on the sets of the reality show Bigg Boss Kannada at the Innovative Film City in Bidadi early on Thursday.
There were no reports of casualties, but properties worth crores of rupees were gutted.
Narase Gowda, an employee, spotted the fire around 3.30 am. However, as he was not aware of fire services number, he began calling his seniors wasting much time, a fire official said.
He called the fire station at 4.34 am. Around 11 fire tenders with a rescue vehicle rushed to the spot and it took three hours for them to bring the blaze under control. The blaze was completely put off only by 10.30 am, a senior fire official said.
The firemen suspect the electric short circuit in the wax museum could have caused the fire which later spread to the Bigg Boss House.
The fire spread rapidly due to the roofing which had 'Zing' sheets (metal sheets) underneath a considerable thickness of the cotton layer which was laid to reduce heat supported by rubber sheets from below. The fire spread swiftly as the rubber with cotton started burning, the officials said.
The Bigg Boss management told the firemen that their estimate of property destroyed is around Rs 9 crore.
However, the exact worth of the properties destroyed is yet to be estimated.
The firemen brought the fire under control before it spread to other areas, they added.
The Bigg Boss season-5 had just ended, and there were speculations that someone could have played mischief to claim insurance.
However, the fire officials said the nature of the blaze looked like it was an accident and the fire spread fast due to lack of maintenance and the company followed no fire safety norms.
The Bidadi police, based on the complaint filed by the management of Innovative Film City, have taken up a case and are investigating.