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Massive fire breaks out at hosiery unit in Ludhiana
Leading fireman, Rajinder Singh, said that five fire tenders were rushed to the spot, but they could not enter the narrow lane, so they had to lay a 1,000 feet long pipe to carry out the operations; the fire tenders had to be refilled over 20 times and they managed to douse the flames in four hours
A major fire broke out at a hosiery unit running out of an eight-decade old building in the congested Purana Bazar in Daresi area on Tuesday morning.
Leading fireman, Rajinder Singh, said that five fire tenders were rushed to the spot, but they could not enter the narrow lane, so they had to lay a 1,000 feet long pipe to carry out the operations. The fire tenders had to be refilled over 20 times and they managed to douse the flames in four hours.
Singh said that they did not enter the building as it was in bad shape and the roof had already collapsed before the fire brigade reached the spot. They were apprehensive that the building might also collapse. The fire fighters also stood atop the adjoining buildings to douse the flames.
A large number of residents had gathered at the spot after they saw smoke emanating out of the unit at around 7 am. Even after the flames were doused, a fire tender was deployed at the spot till afternoon as a precautionary step.
No casualty was reported from the spot and a short-circuit is the reason behind the fire, officials said.
Shops are situated on the ground floor of the three-storey building and the flames were restricted to the first and second floors only. The roof of the building, which was made of wooden blocks, collapsed in the fire and goods and machinery reportedly worth lakhs perished.
After visiting the site, MC zonal commissioner Neeraj Jain declared the building unsafe.
Residents raise issues over unsafe buildings
Meanwhile, residents and shopkeepers of the area demanded that MC orders owners of unsafe buildings to get them repaired or have them demolish.
Had the roof of the roof building collapse, it could have resulted in a major tragedy, they added
There are over 113 unsafe buildings in the city, mostly in the old city area, and there are higher chances that they may collapse during the monsoon season due to heavy rainfall and strong winds. But, MC has failed to take any concrete action.
Yarn unit gutted in Budhewal
It was a busy day for firefighters as a major fire also broke out at a yarn unit in Budhewal village on Chandigarh Road on Tuesday morning. Labourers were working at the unit when the fire broke, but they managed to escape safely. No casualty was reported from the spot.
Nine fire tenders, including six from the city and three from Samrala, were rushed to the spot and the firefighting operations continued for seven and a half hours.
The cement sheet shed of the unit collapsed and goods and machinery, reportedly worth lakhs, were gutted.
A short circuit is suspected to be the reason behind the fire incident.
No fire safety arrangements were in place at the unit and the fire brigade had to arrange water from a nearby factory.
Sub-fire officer (SFO) Atish Rai said that the fire tenders were refilled for over 50 times to douse the flames.
