Massive fire engulfs factory in Delhi, no casualties
As per preliminary inquiry, officials said that the fire broke out due to an explosion in an LPG cylinder
A massive fire engulfed and gutted a factory in outer Delhi’s Bakkarwala area early on Sunday. Fire officials said it took above five-to-six hours to control the blaze, as the entire three-storey building, which housed textile machinery and a garment storage house, was up in flames.
No casualties were reported, officials said.
As per preliminary inquiry, officials said that the fire broke out due to an explosion in an LPG cylinder, which set ablaze material next to it.
Delhi Police officials said they will initiate an inquiry into the incident. No case has been registered yet.
Fire officials said no workers were injured and ran to safety before the fire spread to the entire building. A call about the fire was made at 6.55 am by workers who were inside the factory, according to Delhi Fire Services.
A firefighter said, “There were close to a dozen workers at the factory. While they have licenses and all permits, they have stored LPG cylinders one of which exploded. Since there were clothes, the blazes rapidly spread…”
Atul Garg, DFS chief, said initially they sent 10 fire tenders within the next 20 minutes of the call to control the fire. “A total of 26 fire tenders had to be pressed into the operation as the fire had engulfed the building and there was a risk of it spreading to neighbouring areas. The teams worked for hours to control the fire. By 9.30 pm, the fire had been controlled with the help of cranes. The cooling operation lasted another two hours as there was a lot of raw material inside which could catch fire in itself…We had to be careful as the entire building was gutted,” said Garg.
A worker at the spot said the fire broke out due to a short circuit but the LPG cylinder blasts led to the massive blaze. He told HT, “I was there when the first fire broke out around 6.15 am. We had almost doused it but nobody noticed the cylinders which were lying on the ground floor. The cylinders exploded one by one and the fire could no longer be controlled. Everyone ran out…”
The worker said the building houses a commercial godown and shopping complex area as well.