Sivakasi fire: miraculous escape for 250 workers

29 working sheds were razed down in an accidental fire; 50-year-old woman suffers 20 per cent burns

Firemen spraying water on the roof of one of the working sheds to cool off the remnant chemicals following a series of blasts at a fireworks unit at Duraisamypuram near Sivakasi on Thursday. Photo: G. Moorthy

Two fire cracker units went up in flames on Thursday near Sivakasi town in Tamil Nadu, authorities said. There were immediately no reports of casualties.

The massive fire broke out at Chidambaram fire works and quickly spread to the adjoining Krishnaswamy fire works.

Three fire tenders battled the fire after information was received at around 1.20 p.m., said an official at the Sivakasi Fire Station.

He said fire tenders were engaged in putting out the flame while blasts could be heard.

Inspector P. Parthiban at Maraneri police station in Sivakasi said that a 50-year-old woman got injured while running away from the fire. The fire broke out during lunch time due to which there were no casualties and workers escaped unscathed.

The official said the fire cracker unit is around four km from the police station and nine km from Sivakasi town.

According to officials, Chidambaram fire cracker unit is engaged in making fancy fire crackers.

Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district, around 510 km from here, is one of the oldest and biggest firecracker manufacturing hubs in India. Nearly 90 percent of the country’s fireworks are made in Sivakasi along with 80 percent of the safety matches.

Low rainfall and dry climate are conductive for this industry in Sivakasi where the annual turnover is over Rs. 2,000 crore.