20120503 India Plastic factory reduced to ashes in fire
May 02 2012
Plastic factory reduced to ashes in fire
Updated: 2012-05-03-06:40
KANPUR: Property worth several lakhs of rupees was reduced to ashes in a fire at a plastics factory in Dadanagar Industrial area of the city on Wednesday. Though there were no casualties, the firemen faced hardships in dousing the flames.
Several fire tenders from various fire stations were rushed to the factory in Panki but in vain. The fire may have been caused by a short-circuit, sources said. The main shed and some other adjoining structures and fixtures along with machinery and material literally turned into smouldering heaps with concrete buildings also developing cracks at several places.
According to chief fire officer, Harveer Singh, the fire, apparently caused by an electrical short circuit, in the factory and the inferno soon engulfed a major portion of the factory. A heavy stock of raw material was totally damaged, according to sources at the factory.
When the mishap occurred, several workers were working in the factory but had enough time to rush to safety. The blaze was brought under control after couple of hours and by that time everything reduced into ashes.
However, there were some areas in the factory where rubble of burnt material, especially drums containing chemical, were emanating smoke. “We are keeping an eye and several fire tenders are still stationed on the factory premises to deal with any recurrence of fire,” a fire brigade official told TOI.
“There were drums containing chemicals dumped inside the factory premises. We were very prompt while dousing the flames as the drum containers could have caused damage to adjoining units,” said a fire department source. A police official said that the Plastic factory belonged to one Vijay Kumar Agarwal.
The Times of India