Major fire at chemical factory

Tribune News Service 
Patiala, September 7

A massive fire broke out at JJ Chemicals, a chemical factory at Focal Point area here  today. Six fire tenders were rushed to the spot and it took several hours to douse the flames. However, no casualty was reported in the incident. 

Though the exact loss could not be estimated, important chemicals worth lakhs were destroyed. People were panicked and ran for safety after thick smog engulfed the area.

Three fire tenders from Patiala and three from Samana, Nabha and Rajpura were pressed into service to control the blaze. The fire, which reportedly triggered due to short-circuit, later intensified due to highly inflammable chemicals at the factory, said fire officials, who also used firefighting foam and a huge amount of sand to suppress the blaze. Interestingly, Senior Deputy Mayor Yoginder Singh Yogi also helped the firefighters in the rescue operation.

According to eyewitnesses, a few explosions were also heard during fire as highly combustible chemicals that had been stored in barrels exploded. Several portions of the factory, including the roof, also collapsed. 

Following the orders from the district administration and Municipal Corporation, a fire tender has been placed outside the factory for the time being. Madan Gopal Jalota, a fire official, said, “It took a lot of time to douse the flames since the chemicals were highly inflammable. But we were able to control it in time.”

Meanwhile, Paramjit Singh Walia, owner of the factory, said his factory supplied chemicals to the dairy industry. He said, “Yesterday, a huge amount of chemicals had reached the factory. The fire, which broke out around 10 am, was put out at 4 pm.”

Deputy Commissioner Kumar Amit, ADC Showkat Ahmad Parre, SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu, Municipal Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira, Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu and other officials from the district administration visited the spot to take stock of the situation.

Kumar Amit, said, “There was no one inside the factory when the fire broke out. As a precautionary measure, material from the adjoining factories has been removed. We will carry out investigations to ascertain the exact cause of fire.” Later, MP Preneet Kaur visited the spot and assured that one fire tender would be stationed at the Focal Point area to avoid such incidents in future.

‘Short-circuit triggered fire’

• The fire, which reportedly triggered due to short-circuit, later intensified due to highly inflammable chemicals at the factory, said fire officials. 
• Following the orders from the district administration and Municipal Corporation, a fire tender has been placed outside the factory for the time being.
• DC Kumar Amit, said, "There was no one inside the factory when the fire broke out. As a precautionary measure, material from the adjoining factories has been removed. We will carry out investigations to ascertain the exact cause of fire."