Fire breaks out at a plywood godown in Noida, none injured

The fire broke out in the basement of the godown. As there was no ventilation, the smoke was thick and the fire brigade team encountered difficulty in entering the basement

A massive fire broke out at the plywood godown in Noida’s Sector 67 on Wednesday afternoon, fire and rescue department officials said, adding that the blaze was controlled after three hours of continuous effort and one person was rescued from the burning building.

A total of six fire tenders worked for over three hours to douse the flames at the godown in Sector 67, Noida, on Wednesday morning. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

“On Wednesday, around 12.30pm, the fire control room received information from a worker that a fire has started at a plywood godown in Sector 67,” said Yogendra Prasad, fire officer, Phase 3.

“On getting information, as many as eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot and managed to extinguish the fire after three hours of efforts,” he said, adding that the a short-circuit in the electrical panel is suspected to have triggered the fire.

“The fire broke out in the basement of the godown. As there was no ventilation, the smoke was thick and our team encountered difficulty in entering the basement. We used a breathing apparatus (BA) set to enter the basement and somehow managed to extinguish the fire,” said Prasad.

Initially, the workers in the godown tried to douse the flames using a fire extinguisher, but when it spread to the plywood, the fire picked up pace, and the fire control room was alerted.

“All but one worker managed to leave the factory safely. The lone worker was trapped in the basement where the fire started. We managed to rescue him safely,” said Prasad, adding that two earth movers were used to break the side walls of the godown for ventilation.

Till Wednesday evening, firefighters were engaged in removing the burned plywood from the basement to prevent a flare-up again.