A major fire broke out in an unauthorised manufacturing workshop in Badshahpur village on Thursday afternoon. While no injuries were reported in the fire, at least 10 fire tenders had to be pressed into action to douse the blaze because of the presence of chemicals.

As per fire department officials, the fire broke out at the workshop of a company that specialises in manufacturing refrigerated containers used in freight transport. The Sector 29 fire department headquarters received a call reporting the incident at 3.38pm.

“One of the containers, which had a highly flammable solution used for pasting thermocol and foam, caught fire. With wooden items, thermocol and foam present nearby, the fire spread very quickly and soon the workshop was engulfed in flames. Fortunately, none of the eight workers inside the building were close by, and they managed to escape the premises unharmed,” assistant divisional fire safety officer IS Kashyap said.

Kashyap said that since the volume of chemicals present inside the workshop was quite high, 10 fire tenders from all four fire brigades—sector 29, Udyog Vihar, sector 37 and Bhim Nagar—were rushed to the spot.

A thick blanket of black smoke could be seen from as far as Subhash Chowk, five kilometres from the site of fire, fire department officials said.

Fire officials said that due to the presence of heavy chemical content, a mixture of foam and water was used extensively for dousing operations. It took them 15 minutes to control the blaze and an hour to completely douse it. A fire tender continues to be deployed at the spot as a precautionary measure, in case a fire resurfaces, officials said.

The workshop was covered by an overhead shelter which survived the blaze while almost all the equipment and materials were gutted in the blaze, said fire department officials.

“The workshop was unauthorized and so did not have an no-objection certificate. We will be initiating necessary action against the owner,” Kashyap said.

First Published: Jun 07, 2019 03:17 IST