Timely action by the fire fighters and the police helped avert a major catastrophe in the city after a major fire broke out in GVK Bio-Sciences Private Limited at Uppal Industrial Area on Monday afternoon.
The personnel in a joint and coordinate effort ensured that not only the fire did not spread to the abutting godown with 50 gas filled cylinders but also people within the vicinity were moved out to a safe zone. While no one was injured, nearby residents and passersby were forced to inhale the pungent odour emanating from the firm’s lab.
The fire is said to have broken out in the lab on the ground floor of the two-storied building at about 3 p.m.
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Soon the flames engulfed the lab and the adjacent storeroom even as four fire tenders from Moula Ali, Malkajgiri, Malakpet and Hayathnagar rushed to the spot. It took three hours for the fire fighters to control the flames, said Assistant District Fire Officer (East Zone) K. Krishna Kumar.
Gas cylinders shifted
In the meantime, with the aid of policemen the fire fighters also managed to move away the gas cylinders in a truck from the gas agency’s godown lest the flames reach them.
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While the property loss was yet to be ascertained, Mr. Kumar charged the firm of failing to install mandatory fire fighting equipment in the building. “We will submit a detail report explaining the violations to Fire Services Director-General S.V. Ramanamurthy,” he said.
Later in a statement, GVK BIO claimed that it follows utmost stringent safety norms at all its facilities and same are being further enhanced.
Terming the mishap as “unfortunate” the firm’s spokesperson said its safety team was looking into the cause of the fire.