Fire in an ink making factory at Jeedimetla on Tuesday damaged four adjacent buildings extensively while crores of rupees worth property was destroyed even as firemen struggled for nearly 10 hours to control the blaze.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire mishap which started at 9 a.m.
It created panic among locals and workers of surrounding factories as drums of chemical solvents blew up one after the other. As the area was filled with thick clouds of smoke, the firemen brought from six fire service stations struggled to control the blaze.
Fire spreads
Residents of the Jeedimetla Industrial Development Area Phase-4 got frightened as flames spread to the nalas and open drains connected to the factory as chemicals leaking from the godown flowed into them. With painstaking efforts, the firemen could douse the blaze by 8 p.m.
Fire started in a corner of Bharat Ink factory-cum-godown and spread to other parts before the workers could react.
By the time, the first fire-tender arrived, flames spread in all directions in the factory spread over nearly 300 square yards, the Jeedimetla Inspector, A. Sanjeeva Rao, said.
Police believe the factory management used to secure chemical solvents from different chemical industrial units. They would transport unused chemicals to treatment plants later. They believe huge quantities of chemical solvents stored underground caught fire and made it difficult for the firemen to control the blaze.
The blaze spreading in different directions posed a danger to some leading pharmaceutical company units like Hetro and Matrix located nearby. A criminal case under Sections 284 (negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substances) 285 (negligent conduct with respect to combustible matter) of Indian Penal Code was registered against the factory management.
