A fire broke out in Vaishno Container Yard at Chirle village in Uran at 11.45 a.m. on Monday. According to police officials, the leak of a chemical being transferred from a container to a tanker is suspected to have led to the fire in the yard located at Panvel-JNPT road at NH4B.
Of the three people who were transferring the chemical, one sustained 55% burns. At least 40 containers are believed to have been damaged in the fire.
Three cranes were pressed into action to prevent the fire from spreading to other containers. Around 15 tenders from Ulwe, Uran, Dronagiri, JNPT, Panvel and Taloja MIDC reached the spot to douse the fire. At the time of going to press, fire officials were still trying to douse the blaze.
Atul Aher, police inspector from Uran police station, said, “An employee at the container yard sustained injuries and was admitted to Jijamata Hospital. He was later shifted to Airoli Burns Hospital. We suspect the chemical leaked while being transferred and caught fire.”
Residents of around 20 houses in the vicinity fled to safety fearing the spread of the fire. The former sarpanch of Jasai village said, “We were afraid that the fire might spread to the houses so we asked the villagers to leave their houses.” Rushikesh Thakur, a resident of Chirle village, said, “There is no fire station in this area and it takes at least 45 minutes for a fire tender to reach from Ulwe or Uran.”
Under control
The fire officials used water to douse the fire and foam to tackle the chemical. A fire officer said, “The yard neither had a fire-fighting system in place nor continuous water supply. This posed a major challenge for us.”
Saurabh Patil, a fire officer from Ulwe, said, “The fire has been brought under control, but flames continue to burn in small pockets in the yard.”
Arvind Mandke, chief fire officer of CIDCO, said, “The cause of the fire is not yet confirmed. We are yet to verify which chemical was being transferred when the incident happened. Around 90% of the fire has been put out. We have kept three tenders on standby for the night. We will begin the cooling process once the fire is doused.”
