Slum fire destroys over 100 tenements in Gurugram
GURUGRAM: Two major fires were reported in the city on Saturday. Although there was no casualty, the fires resulted in significant losses. The fire department remained on its toes as both the incidents took place within a span of two hours, making it difficult for firefighters to put out the flames.
In the first incident, a massive fire broke out around 9.15am in the slums of Ghasola village, near Sector 49.
The blaze gutted over a 100 huts.
Preliminary investigations revealed that a woman sensed a leak in the gas pipe while she was cooking and rushed out of her hut. Within seconds, there was a loud explosion and she saw her LPG cylinder going up in the air.
“The fire from the cylinder blast spread from one hut to another and within a matter of minutes, several huts were burned to the ground. We rushed to the spot and rescued people who were still inside their huts. We managed to remove furniture and LPG cylinders from the remaining huts, thereby managing to contain the fire,” Rajbir Boken, a resident of Uppal Southend, housing society near the slum cluster, said.
Eight fire engines from four stations were rushed to the spot. A total of 36 firefighters were dispatched from the four fire stations, including the ones in Sector 29 and Udyog Vihar.
Officials of the fire department said they suspect that the blaze was triggered by the gas leak. “We received a call around 10.05am and rushed to the spot. We reached the spot in 20 minutes and found several huts engulfed in flames. The fire had spread rapidly. It took us almost two hours to douse the flames. ,” Isham Singh Kashyap, district fire officer, Gurugram, said.
“The regulator of an LPG cylinder wasn’t functioning because of which there was a leakage. We, thankfully, managed to get all residents out on time. Residents from nearby societies played a big role in saving lives and property,” Kashyap said.
“We watched helplessly as our huts were gutted. We tried to bring out important documents and cash, but could not enter, as the flames had engulfed our huts by then,” Abdul Monin, a rickshaw puller, said.
In another incident, a fire broke out at a fibre sheet manufacturing factory in Darbajpur, near Badshahpur, around 12.10pm on Saturday. The factory workers suspect that the fire was triggered by a short circuit on the ground floor.
Five fire tenders were rushed to the spot and managed to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to the other floors. Kashyap said it took the firefighters around a couple of hours to douse the fire and the cause is yet to be ascertained.