NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, JUNE 24
A massive fire raged on Wednesday in the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), at Sanand on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, engulfing an entire diaper making factory. No casualty has been reported yet, sources said.
Even after five hours, the firefighters are yet to completely douse the flames, which razed the entire plant and unit to the ground.
A total of around 160-70 firefighters with 30 fire engines were deployed to douse the fire, a senior fire officer said.
The fire was reported from the Unicharm Industries in Ahmedabad. It is reported to have started around 9 a.m. near Gate no.2.
Minutes it escalated into an inferno, according to eyewitnesses, the smoke rising from the blaze could be seen even from 5 to 8 kilometres away.
As soon as the fire alarm went on, the company officials immediately evacuated the factory.
At first, four to five fire engines were immediately rushed to the spot. As it raged on more fire engines were rushed in. But it consumed the entire factory within the hour.
“We received the call at 9:14 in the morning. We immediately rushed four vehicles to the spot. But on getting here we saw that it wasn’t enough. We got more vehicles here. We have still not been able to know the exact cause of the fire.
“We haven’t completely doused the fire, but it is now under control. We have deployed around 30 vehicles from the Ahmedabad Fire & Emergency Services (AFES), including 3 firefighters, 9 water tankers, 11 water bosers, a smoke exhauster, 6 office vehicles, and around 125 of our personal,” Additional Chief Fire Officer, Rajesh Bhatt said.
“We also have around 10-12 vehicles fetched from the Sanand GIDC fire services and other companies. Almost half of AFES staff is deployed here at this place. Not only the fire has gutted everything, but the entire structure of the company has collapsed due to the fire,” added Bhat
According to the available information, there have been no casualties reported so far, but massive damage and losses in crores are believed to have incurred to the company.
