Massive fire breaks out in Manjusar pharma unit

VADODARA: A massive fire broke out at a pharmaceutical unit at Manjusar in Savli taluka on Tuesday evening. The reason for the fire was not known even as fire fighters battled the flames till late in the night.
Fire tenders of Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) were dispatched to Chemcon Chemicals Private Limites which manufactures pharmaceutical intermediates after initial attempts were made by the company to control the fire. Sources at Vadodara Fire and Emergency Services (VFES) said that they had got a call little late and the fire had spread to P2 plant of the company from its godown. It takes about 25 minutes to reach the place.

There were no casualities in the blaze, fire brigade said.

The fire was sparked in the godown where chemicals used for manufacturing medicines were stored. The quantity of these chemicals was estimated to three tonnes. A fire official who was the first one to reach there said that he saw thick clouds of smoke billowing from Dumad chowkdi which is around 15 km away from Manjusar. The firemen then informed the control room and called for additional fire engines.

"We controlled the fire at P2 plant first otherwise the fire would have spread further to other three plants and another godown where acid tank was situated. If these infrastructure would have been caught up in blaze of the fire, it would have been a major disaster," said I I Sheikh, station officer, Dandiya Bazaar fire station. The firemen had to use 20,000 litre of foam besides thousands of litres of water since chemicals were caught on fire. Team of firemen from Manjusar GIDC, Savli municipality, Nandesari GIDC and GSFC apart from six fire tenders of VFES battled the fire for three hours.

The source of the fire, however, could not be ascertained.

Fire officials said that the company had fire system but it was not up to the mark taking into consideration the nature of chemicals that are stored there. Sheikh also said that the company did not have foam in adequate quantity which made things difficult for them.

The company is estimating losses in crores of rupees due to the mishap.

It was only recently that major fire was triggered at Maneja-based Schaeffler India (previously known as FAG Bearings Ltd). A large plant of the company was caught up in blaze forcing fire department to announce 'brigade call'. A day before that, on December 25 fire had broken out at Shukan Hospital in Karelibaug.