32 fires keep firefighters on toes in industrial city

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 8

The industrial hub of the state, Ludhiana witnessed 32 fires on Diwali night. Of these, three were major incidents. However, no life was lost, nor anybody suffered serious injuries in any of the fire incidents.

Sources said fire brigade received several fake calls on its toll-free number ‘101’, but the officials managed to verify those calls before sending firefighters to the spot.

A major fire incident was reported at Simran Packaging, a cardboard-manufacturing factory at Focal Point. It took the firemen almost 10 hours to completely put out the flames. A fireman, Ravinderjit Singh, suffered minor injuries as he fell off the first floor of the factory building. He was rushed to the hospital.

Another major fire broke out around 8.45 pm at a factory. A large stock of cardboard was stored in the factory. The fire was reportedly put out at 7 am. The sources said loss caused by the fire could be in several lakhs. 

Another major fire was reported at Basti Jodhewal where a warehouse of scrap caught fire. The fire was reported around 1 am. It took the firemen almost six hours to control the fire.

Yet another fire was reported at a soap factory on Tajpur Road. It started at 7 pm and the flames were completely doused by 9 pm.

Minor fire incidents also took place at houses, vacant plots and factories in the areas of Jagraon Bridge, Gaushala Road, Model Town Extension, Karimpura, New Subash Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Dashmesh Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Khudh Mohalla, near DIG office, MIG flats, Meena Bazaar, Moti Nagar, Guru Nanak complex, Gandhi Nagar, Shivpuri, Haider Enclave, Malli Ganj and near bus stand, but no major loss was reported.

Assistant Divisional Officer Bhupinder Sandhu said of 32 incidents of fire, 31 took place during the night after 10 pm. Only one incident was reported during daytime on Wednesday. Fire brigade had remained on its toes throughout the night. He termed cracker bursting after 10 pm as the cause of the fire incidents.

Last Diwali, the city had witnessed 35 incidents of fire, all minor ones.

Hosiery waste destroyed in fire

In a major fire incident reported in a vacant piece of land at Mata Charan Kaur Colony on Tajpur Road on Thursday, a huge stock of hosiery waste belonging to a factory was destroyed. Firemen had a tough time dousing the flames in the congested area. Several houses are located close to the spot. The cause of fire was yet to be ascertained.