Three firemen hurt in Narela factory fire, 2nd blaze in Capital in two days
NEWDELHI: Three firefighters sustained minor burn injuries while trying to contain a blaze that broke out in two adjoining factories in outer Delhi’s Narela Industrial Area early Tuesday -the second fire in the city in two days.
Officials said the two buildings did not have no-objection certificates from the fire department. At least 30 fire tenders were used to douse the fire.
Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg said two firefighters and one sub-officer, who was in a supervisory role, were injured when a cooking gas cylinder in one of the factories blew up.
“At 4.52 am, we received a call reporting that a four-storeyed shoe manufacturing factory was on fire in I Block of the Narela Industrial Area. Our men who reached the spot found that no one was trapped in the building. We pressed four fire tenders into service but when we had almost contained the fire, an LPG cylinder exploded, leaving three of our men injured. The blast spread the fire to an adjacent four-storey building, which housed a cardboard box manufacturing unit,” Garg said.
The fire chief said their three men were rushed to a hospital.
“Meanwhile we called for backup and more than 25 more fire tenders were used to control the blaze in the two buildings. We used at least 30 fire tenders and 120 men to douse the blaze. Our injured men returned to job after treatment,” he said.
Garg said they found that none of the two buildings had NOCs from the fire department. “Our men did not even find any firefighting equipment in the building. We are looking into negligence,” he said.
Cooling operations further took more than two hours.
Garg said the initial reason behind the fire seems to be a short-circuit. However, he said a detailed inspection would be carried out to find out the source of the fire.
Deputy commissioner of police (DCP, outer north) Gaurav Sharma said that the fire department’s report was pending and that the police would initiate any legal action based on the report.