20191130 Major fire in unsafe hosiery unit, close shave for firemen
India Nov 30 2019 “Building” “Factories”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Major fire in unsafe hosiery unit, close shave for firemen
Updated: 2019–12–01
LUDHIANA: In a major fire incident, a three-storey hosiery factory went up in flames at Wait Ganj on Saturday afternoon.
Though there was no casualty, the firemen had a narrow escape as they hadn’t gone in when two blasts occurred inside the building.
As the street leading to the unit — AK Sabharwal Hosiery — was through congested markets, the firemen had a tough time in reaching the spot. They had to station fire tenders at a distance and stretch their pipes to the maximum to control the flames.
There were five cylinders inside the building and firemen brought them out after dousing the fire. The fire officials were furious with the owner as he did not inform them about the cylinders.
According to area people, the fire started at 12.30pm. Sources said factory owner Karan Sabharwal was sitting in the office when he smelt smoke. As he came out, somebody informed him about smoke coming out from the first floor of the building. He soon asked everybody inside to come out and the fire brigade was informed.
The fire officials claimed that they received the call at 1.05pm. It took long for the firemen to reach the spot as the way leading to Wait Ganj was among the most congested stretches in the city, they said. The fire officials stationed fire tenders outside and used water pipes to control the flames.
The fire officials were unable to enter the building because of narrow stairs. The firemen were controlling fire from buildings located opposite the hosiery unit. As soon as the firemen started their operation, two blasts occurred inside the building.
The officials claimed one blast occurred in a cylinder on the first floor. The blast was so powerful that cylinder hit the wall of opposite building. They said the other blast perhaps happened in the air conditioner (AC).
Officials said the owner had not informed them about the cylinders in the building. The building and nearby structured could have collapsed in case there were more blasts.
Station fire officer S N Sharma said there was a huge stock of hosiery material kept inside the building. And since the structure was old, it had developed cracks and half of the lanter had been damaged. He said it was unsafe to enter the building, so they had to control the fire from outside.
Sharma said there was no fire safety arrangement or provision of water in the building. Fire tenders had to go back to the central fire station through congested areas to refill.
Adjoining buildings at risk
Due to flames and heat inside the building, one adjoining structure was vacated by the owners. There were chances of fire spreading to the adjoining building as well, so they brought hosiery goods out.
Crowd adds to trouble
As a large number of shopkeepers and hosiery unit owners thronged the area to witness the operation, the firemen faced difficulties in controlling the situation. They were shouting at public to stay away from the unsafe building. Fire tenders were parked outside the street, and in the absence of walkie talkies they had to shout it out to convey their message to their colleagues. But the firemen claimed that since road was full of people, they were unable to see the person deployed to handle water supply from fire tenders.
Power switched off in entire area
As soon as fire officials reached the spot, they asked the power department to stop the electricity supply in the area. While firemen were on their job, power supply was restored all of a sudden, leading to sparks in the jumbled wires. The firemen claimed it could have resulted in a major tragedy and many people could have become victims of electric shock. The electricity supply was snapped again following the goof-up.
Web Source: The times of India