100 shanties gutted in fire at Manesar

Over 100 shanties and structures storing scrap and plastic waste were gutted in a fire that broke out at a field in Naharpur Kasan, near Sector 6 of Manesar, on Sunday afternoon

Over 100 shanties and structures storing scrap and plastic waste were gutted in a fire that broke out at a field in Naharpur Kasan, near Sector 6 of Manesar, on Sunday afternoon. No injuries were reported in the incident.

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Officials of the fire department said they were notified about the incident at 11.51 am, following which it took 11 fire tenders 90 minutes to douse the blaze. The fire broke out when a resident was cooking food on a gas stove and it quickly spread due to lack of boundaries between structures, said officials.

IS Kashyap, assistant divisional fire safety officer (ADFSO) said that by the time the first batch of fire tenders reached the spot, all the shanties were gutted. “The shanties are located in a field, next to agriculture lands, with no buildings in close proximity. As it was an open space, the wind speed was relatively strong and along with sporadic bursting of LPG cylinders stored inside shanties, the blaze was aggravated further. Three fire tenders, two from IMT Manesar and one from Honda, had reached the location within 15 minutes after the call was received. However, by then, all 100-110 shanties were gutted,” said Kashyap.

Kashyap said that the main occupation of the habitants of the shanties was primarily storing and selling scrap and plastic waste. He said that just before the arrival of the first batch of fire tenders, a team from Kherki Daula police station reached the spot and evacuated the locals.

“The fire broke out when one shanty habitant was cooking lunch on a gas stove and it quickly spread to shanties nearby. Besides the fire tenders from IMT Manesar and one from Honda, two fire tenders each were sent from Sector 29 and Sector 37 fire stations, while one fire tender each was sent from the Udyog Vihar and Bhim Nagar fire stations as well,” said Kashyap.

Kashyap said that it took the fire department officials around 90 minutes to douse the blaze and by 1.30 pm, all fire tenders left the spot. A similar fire also broke out in shanties located in Nathupur village on April 3. Over 180 structures were gutted and no injuries were reported in the incident.