Furniture workshop ravaged in Sunday afternoon blaze at Ludhiana’s Haibowal area

Furniture and machinery worth lakhs were gutted in a fire that broke out a workshop in Haibowal on Sunday afternoon.

Though no one was injured, as the workers managed to run to safety in the nick of time, the flames and plume of smoke caused panic in the area, which is dotted by closely-placed residential buildings.

As per information, someone set a pile of waste on fire at the plot located opposite the workshop. It is suspected that the furniture kept outside its premises picked this fire, which led to a blaze in the building.

Leading fireman Rajan Singh said, “Three fire tenders were sent to the spot after we received an alert and the flames were put out in two hours. Workers rushed out of the building before the fire brigade reached the spot. Hence, injuries were avoided.”

Fire at scrap godown in Gurmail Nagar

Meanwhile, in the second such incident in a week, a fire was reported at an open scrap warehouse at Gurmail Nagar near Giaspura on Saturday night.

On November 22, another scrap godown had caught fire in Salem Tabri.

Small explosions in the building and bright flames in the thick of night left residents of houses located in the adjacent narrow streets nervous.

The fire was first noticed around 10.30pm, following which the owner and neighbours first tried to douse the flames and then called the fire department around midnight.

As many as five fire tenders were rushed to the spot, but these could not reach the spot due to the narrow street, forcing firefighters to lay out a 600-foot-long hose to start the operation that lasted till 3am. As the premises were closed for the night, no one was hurt.

Sub-fire officer Maninder Singh said, “No casualty was reported and the firefighters controlled the flames in around three hours.”

Alarmed by the incident, residents demanded that the godown be shifted out of the area, as such mishaps posed grave danger to the population living around it.