20120419 India Stored waste at Physical Research Laboratory ignites blaze
Apr 18 2012
Stored waste at Physical Research Laboratory ignites blaze
Updated: 2012-04-19
AHMEDABAD: Wastes stored in an open area inside Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) campus sparked off fire on Wednesday afternoon. However, no casualty or injury was reported in the incident.
The laboratory wastes of the high security establishment under the Department of Space includes various types of chemicals including inflammable chemicals, chemical containers, boxes and other substances. As a fire suddenly broke out around 12pm, the officials of the laboratory immediately alerted the fire department.
It took the fire tenders more than an hour to douse the fire and bring the situation under control at PRL. “We had a fire fighter vehicle and two water tankers at the place. We had to empty the water from both the tankers in controlling the fire,” said additional chief fire officer Rajesh Bhatt.
As the fire officials were busy tackling the situation, staffs and officials of PRL gathered into a crowd to watch the situation. “The wastes have been lying there since a long time and should have been disposed of earlier,” said one of the officials who did not wish to disclose his identity.
“We are unable to ascertain the cause of the fire as of now. There was no electrical wiring around the place which eliminated the possibility of short-circuit being the cause of fire. We noticed lots of scraps, wooden furniture and containers at the place,” said Bhatt.
The Times of India