Chemical dump catches fire

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A major fire broke out in a chemical storage unit, that was illegally set up in a residential complex, at Subashnagar in Jeedimetla. The incident spread panic for around four hours on Monday morning. Six families residing in two apartments nearby were evacuated. No casualties were reported.

The fire spread to the nearby paper packaging godown which was located on the ground floor of the adjacent residential apartment. It took almost five hours for fire personnel to bring the blaze under control. Four fire tenders were used for the operation. Officials said the fire control room received a call at 7.45 am and immediately a fire tender from Jeedimetla fire station rushed to the spot and started operations. Later, two more fire tenders from the Sanathnagar fire station and Patanhceru fire station joined the operations.

As the barrels kept with chemicals exploded, several vehicles, including a vehicle that was parked outside the apartment, got damaged. There were about 20 to 30 explosions, according to eye witnesses. The entire building developed cracks. The chemical storage unit was set up by one Devram Choudary on the ground floor of the building. He and his family stayed on the first floor and the second floor was vacant.

Immediately after the blast, he and his family fled, eyewitnesses said. The blaze spread to the nearby building and paper kept in the Laqshya Packaging Solutions godown on the ground floor was completely gutted. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Mr Ram, who stays nearby, said he woke up hearing a blast at about 7.30 am. About 20 to 30 blasts were heard. Immediately somebody alerted the fire control room about the accident. Ms Raja Kumari, who stays above the packaging unit, was seen crying at the

site. “I had kept around Rs 30,000 in my house. When the blast took place we ran outside and didn’t get time to save anything. Everything was gutted in the blaze.” “The chemicals kept in the barrels were solvents and chemicals like tolene, xylene etc. All of them are highly combustible and we don’t know how they stored such material in a residential premises,” said Mr Sridhar, the station fire officer at Jeedimetla. No case has been registered so far against the godown-cum-building owner for negligence. Petbasheerbad inspector B. Janaiah said they have registered a fire accident case and are investigating. He also said they might book cases against the building owner, Mr Devram Choudary.