Fire breaks out at Zirakpur godown

Our Correspondent

Zirakpur, August 18

Medicines and other goods worth crores were destroyed in a major fire that broke out in a godown of a pharmaceutical company near Bhabat village here on Saturday morning. However, no loss of human life was reported in the incident.

According to fire officials, the fire first broke out in a cold storage room at the godown of Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd around 10 am and within minutes it spread rapidly and engulfed the whole ground floor of the building, destroying cartons of medicines and other goods.

Though the exact cause of the fire could not be ascertained yet, it is believed that a short circuit in a stabiliser kept in the cold storage room was the trigger. Employees of the godown stated that the fire spread quickly as thermocol, a highly flammable material, meant for packing medicines was stored near the room.

According to reports, a supervisor present in the godown detected the smoke and flames coming from the cold storage room and immediately alerted the staff of the godown. The staff present inside the godown initially tried to control the fire using their own firefighting equipment, but later informed the fire station, which immediately swung into action.

As many as seven fire tenders — three from Dera Bassi and two each from the Air Force wing and the fire station in Chandigarh — were pressed into service to control the blaze and prevent it from spreading further.

Since hundreds of cartons of medicines were stored in the building, firefighters encountered trouble in dousing the flames. They faced difficulty in breathing as burning medicines were emitting dense smoke. Dera Bassi fire officer Manjit Singh claimed that they received information about the incident at the godown around 10.20 am and subsequently, three fire tenders with a team of firemen were rushed to the spot to extinguish the flames. 

The fire at the Zirakpur godown could be brought under control by the firemen after a struggle of nearly two hours and a half. 

However, the entire firefighting operation lasted over four hours as even after the fire was extinguished, the waste material had kept smouldering at the godown. 

Later, two fire tenders were stationed at the spot by the authorities  to spray water at regular intervals. This was done to ensure that there was no recurrence of the blaze, said the fire officer on the occasion.

Anil Kataria, in-charge of the godown, claimed that goods worth Rs 3.5 crore were destroyed in the fire. 

Cause unknown

Though the exact cause of the fire could not be ascertained yet, it is believed that a short circuit in a stabiliser kept in the cold storage room was the trigger. The flames spread quickly as thermocol, a highly flammable material, meant for packing medicines was stored near the room.

Firefighting ops lasted 4 hrs

Though the fire was brought under control in nearly two hours and a half, the entire firefighting operation lasted over four hours. Even after the fire was extinguished, the waste material kept smouldering due to which two fire tenders sprayed water on regular intervals to ensure there was no recurrence of the blaze.

Burning drugs posed difficulty

Since hundreds of cartons of medicines were stored in the building, firefighters encountered trouble in dousing the flames. They faced difficulty in breathing as burning medicines were emitting dense smoke.