Fire breaks out at godown

Our Correspondent

Zirakpur, December 12

Fire broke out at diaper godown at Bhabat village in Zirakpur, here this afternoon. The first floor of the godown building housing baby diapers was nearly gutted, creating panic among residents. Though the exact cause of the fire was not ascertained yet, the sources said the fire broke out due to short-circuit.

A total of 22 fire tenders were rushed to the spot, along with the disaster management team, to control the fire. Eyewitnesses said the fire broke out around 11.45 am at Unicharm India Private Limited godown in Zirakpur.

The magnitude of the fire could be gauged from the fact that the local administration had to arrange fire tenders from Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali, including Dera Bassi and Lalru.

Residents who gathered at the spot said fire personnel were finding it difficult to douse the flames as there were no ventilators in the godown, Moreover, the thick smoke was making it difficult to reach beyond the area, forcing them to spray the water from outside.

Soon the godown premises engulfed with dark smoke and fanned with the winds, the smoke spread to the nearby commercial establishments, forcing the shopkeepers in the area to shut their establishments.

Manjit Singh, fire officer, Dera Bassi, said, “We received the information about the fire about 12 noon. The Dera Bassi fire department rushed all three fire tenders, including water boozer, along with fire personnel to extinguish the flames.

The rescue work that started around 12.10 pm went on till filing of this report. Many officials from the local administration, including Purushottam Singh Bal, DSP, Dera Bassi; Pawan Kumar, SHO, Zirakpur; and many others also reached the spot as soon as they got to know about the fire incident.

The Dera Bassi DSP said the exact cause of the fire and quantum of loss could not to be ascertained as the extinguishing operations were still underway.

It has been learnt that even after eight hours, the fire has not been doused.