Warehouse blaze brought under control
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Fire Force has by Sunday afternoon brought under control a huge fire at a chemical godown in Chennai’s Madhavaram area after 1,000 fire force personnel and over 30 fire engines worked through nearly 24 hours.
On Sunday afternoon the fire looked under total control and officials said 90 per cent of the work is over. In the afternoon, fire force men were spraying water to prevent any chances of reignition.
There were no casualties. The cause of the fire is under probe, the police department said.
The godown mostly stored raw materials for medicines which are made at a factory. A huge explosion preceded the blaze, local residents said.
Air pollution wasn’t ruled out, but the burnt materials were not considered toxic, fire officials said. However, some of the oil-based chemicals stored at the depot caused the fire to rage.
The warehouse is said to contain chemicals such as tetra hydrocarbon and dye methyl sulfoxide.
The owner claimed a loss of Rs1 billion. He said the fire was caused by a spark. At the same time, he has been accused of skipping safety measures.
The godown was about 100 metres away from the main Erukkanchery High Road, and the fumes were causing breathing difficulty to pedestrians.
The blaze started at around 3pm on Saturday and engulfed three blocks of the chemical godown. Nearly 500 police personnel were rushed to the scene initially, but the task was beyond them. The fire force was soon at the spot, even as plumes of smoke darkened the sky above. Fire engines and metro water tankers from Sengunram, Manali and Ambattur areas were also rushed to the spot to assist in firefighting efforts.
Nearly 12 later, in the wee hours of Sunday, the fire was easing in fury. The firemen used JCBS to break down the weaker walls and allow water to flow into the buildings.
Officials said 5,00,000 litres of water was used until noon to douse the flames. “32 fire department tankers and at least 100 water tankers from the Metro water department were put to use. Even as the police took a primary look at the site, the forensic department was expected to make their own assessment.
Traffic had to be blocked in the area. Chennai District Collector Sithalakshmi, Municipal Police Commissioner AK Viswanathan, and Fire Department DGP Sailendra Babu supervised the operations.