Fire at Pawane chemical firm, one fireman injured

PAWANE: A fire broke out in a chemical company at Pawane area on Thursday morning.

One fireman was injured during the fire-fighting operation that raged for hours. Property worth crores has been damaged in the fire, the cause of which is still not known.

The fire broke out around 4.50am at W-183 MIDC in Welcome Laboratory.

The distillation lab in the company was gutted in minutes.

MIDC fire officer Surendra Chaudhary said: “When we reached the spot within a few minutes of getting a call, the fire was raging. While dousing it was a priority, our major concern was also to prevent its spread to the neighbouring chemical companies.”

Fire tenders from NMMC Vashi, Nerul and CBD Belapur fire stations, Cidco’s Kharghar fire station and also from Kalyan, Dombivli and Mumbra were pressed into service to speed up the operation.

Choudhary said, “Apart from our two vehicles, a total of around 15 fire tenders were pressed into service.”

The fire was doused before it could spread but the company was gutted.

Chaudhary said, “We are investigating the cause of fire. The company did have a fire-fighting system but we are investigating if it was adequate.”

A fire-fighted sustained injuries during the operation.

He said: “Fire fighter SR Patil sustained minor injuries in the operation. He is being treated.”

The fire was brought under control in over two hours and the cooling operation was on till 11.30am.

BACHCHAN KUMAR Firemen douse the fire which broke out in the chemical company at Pawane on Thursday.