Vadodara: Owner, staff attack firemen dousing fire in scrap godown

VADODARA: Firefighters from Dandiya Bazaar fire station dousing a major fire at a scrap godown on Bahucharaji Road on early Tuesday morning were attacked by its owner and his men. Short-circuit sparked a fire in the scrapyard which quickly engulfed the entire establishment at around 7.15am, said fire officials.
According to fire department sources, the owner of the godown, Manan, along with his men started attacking the firefighters when they had to stop operation after receiving shocks. Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Limited did not send engineers on time to disconnect power supply to the site, which led to the firefighters getting shocks while spraying water on the godown’s tin sheds and poles. “When the firemen received shock, they had to stop spraying water as their lives were at risk. The agitated godown owner started arguing with the firemen and even slapped one of the firemen,” said fire officer I I Sheikh of Dandiya Bazaar fire station.
The firemen, however, kept their cool but did not restart operation until power supply to the site was was cut. Additional teams were then dispatched from Dandiya Bazaar, Vadiwadi, Makarpura GIDC and Chhani fire stations to control the fire. Sheikh said that even after the MGVCL supply was disconnected, firemen continued to get shocks as the owner did not inform them about the presence of an inverter and live fibre optic cables in the godown.
“It was negligence on part of the owner as besides cardboard, the godown stocked chemical drums, old vehicle batteries and used gas cylinders. One of our teams was occupied only in removal of these hazardous materials away from the flames,” Sheikh added.
It took more than an hour to completely douse the fire. Fire officials said that the godown did not have any no-objection certificate from the department.