Goods worth over Rs 1 crore destroyed in factory fire

Satinder Pal Singh

Dera Bassi, May 2

Goods worth over Rs 1 crore were destroyed in a massive fire that broke out in a plastic cardboard factory on the Pandwala road here today. No casualty was reported in the incident.

“Since the fire broke out early in the morning, the factory was closed at that time,” sources said. The fire started at 6.30 am and destroyed stocks worth over Rs 1 crore.

A watchman on duty at the factory saw smoke billowing out of the building and informed the owners and the fire brigade.

Firefighters rushed to the spot and it took them nearly 10 hours to douse the flames as the factory had huge stocks of inflammable plastic material and cardboards.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

According to officials of the Fire Department, the fire broke out at Tulsyan Cans and Cardboard Pvt Ltd on the Pandwala road at Focal Point in Dera Bassi around 6.30 am. The Fire Department received a call around 7 am.

Five fire tenders were pressed into service. The firefighting operation, that started around 7 am, went on till the evening. “The fire spread into the factory storeroom, housing plastics and cardboard boxes meant for packaging,” said Manjeet Singh, fire officer at Dera Bassi.

Even after the fire was extinguished, the waste material kept smouldering and one fire tender was stationed at the spot to sprinkle water at regular intervals to prevent the recurrence of the fire, Manjeet Singh said.

Some fire officials were at the site till 6 pm. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, but it is suspected that it may have been caused by a short circuit.

Firefighters had a tough time dousing the flames as the raw material was highly inflammable. “The loss is estimated to be worth over Rs 1 crore. The exact amount is, however, yet to be ascertained,” said an official of the factory.