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Two back-to-back blazes break out in Ludhiana
Around 12 workers narrowly escaped the flames in the hosiery unit; while it took six hours to contain the flames at the tyre factory
Two back-to-back fires broke out in the city on Saturday morning, ravaging a tyre manufacturing unit on RK road near Mohan Dai Oswal Hospital, and a hosiery unit in Kirpal Nagar near Tibba Road.
While there were no workers at the tyre manufacturing unit, Hindustan Tyres and Tubes, owing to the two-day off imposed by the state government to deal with the power crisis, around 12 workers narrowly escaped the flames at Shivani Oswal Hosiery. No casualties were reported at either site.
The fire department promptly responded to the back-to-back calls. It took around 30 firefighters and 16 fire tenders to bring the simultaneous flames under control at both the units. Fire station officer Jaswinder Singh said 13 fire tenders were deputed at the tyre manufacturing unit and three were sent to Kirpal Nagar. It took six hours to control the flames at the tyre factory, while the fire at the hosiery unit was contained in two-and-a half hours.
The blaze in the tyre factory was reported around 4am. The flames rapidly spread to other parts of the unit due to strong winds. Thick smoke could be seen billowing from the unit from afar. Security guards raised the alarm and the fire brigade was informed around 4.20am. A shed of the factory had collapsed and goods and machinery worh crores had perished by the time the flames could be doused.
Short circuit to blame
Officials said a short circuit in the main electric panel of the unit was responsible for the fire. Chief security officer of the unit Madan Lal said four security guards had been deputed at the unit. “Soon after the fire broke out, the guards tried to douse the flames using the fire extinguishers, but to no avail as the fire kept spreading due to the strong winds,” said Lal.
Sub-fire officer Navrang Singh said the firefighters faced trouble dousing the flames as parts of the iron and steel shed were collapsing during the operation.
A second fire was reported soon after around 5.30am at the hosiery unit. The blaze broke out when a short circuit took place when power supply in the area was resumed in the morning. The owner of the unit, Sanjeev Kumar, said the unit falls under the small scale category and had been operational when the fire broke out. The workers were able to exit the building safely. We have not ascertained the losses as yet.
No fire safety arrangements
Officials said fire safety was lacking in both the units. “Only a few fire extinguishers were installed at the units, which were not sufficient. As there were no fire hydrants or even a water tank at a tyre manufacturing unit, we had to arrange water from a nearby hospital to save time. If not for the hospital, the fire brigade would have had to fill the tenders from a nearby municipal corporation tubewell,” a fire official said.
