Major fire breaks out in Brahmpuri garment unit

Ludhiana, April 26

A massive fire broke out at a garment factory in the Brahmpuri area near Saidan Chowk late on Thursday night. Since the factory was situated in a densely populated area where many factories exist, owners of the other industrial units were a panicked lot when the incident occurred.

Blaze controlled in two hours

Within two hours, fire personnel managed to douse the flames at the garment factory and five fire tenders were used for the purpose.

As per information, late on Thursday evening, owner of the garment factory, Vicky, locked the unit and went home. Around 10 pm, he got a call from neighbours that smoke was billowing from his factory. He rushed to the factory and found that the fire engulfed the entire first floor while ground, second and third floors were safe.

The owner, along with other people, tried to control the fire with available fire extinguishers but they failed in their attempt as the blaze was intense. Later, they called the fire brigade which reached the place within a few minutes.

Since the factory was located in narrow lanes, the fire tenders could not reach outside the affected unit, hence, they had to lay long water pipes to start the operation. Within two hours, the fire men managed to douse the flames and five fire tenders were used for the purpose.

The factory owner told mediapersons that a short-circuit seemed to be the cause behind the fire. He said losses were yet to be ascertained.

Aatish Rai, sub-fire officer, said the factory was lying closed when the fire broke out, hence, no worker was trapped inside it. Fire personnel doused the flames in two hours and no fireman suffered any injury.

Sources said the factory lacked fire safety arrangements due to which the blaze could not be doused at the initial stage.