Massive fire engulfs two factories in NSEZ area

Noida: A massive fire broke out in a plastic granule manufacturing factory in NSEZ area on Monday afternoon, engulfing a neighbouring factory as well.
While the exact reason of the fire remain unclear, the incident happened around 3pm in plot number 24-A of NSEZ area in Phase II, when one of the oil tankers kept in the factory’s tin shed caught fire, according to reports.
The fire started inside the tin shed and soon spread to the entire factory and the ground floor of the single-storey building. According to fire department officials, as many as 250 workers were present at the spot when the fire started and some of them first attempted to douse the fire themselves.
However, given that the presence of plastic material in the entire building, oil and flammable material, the fire only continued to get out of control. Panic gripped the workers who hurried out of the building as the fire spread causing chaos in the factory. A worker said that they first tried to douse the fire using water themselves but to no avail. “Flames were spreading at a speed and plastic sheets and material kept in the backside too caught fire,” A worker said. As the fire continued to billow, black clouds could be seen over the factory from a distance. The fire soon spread to the neighbouring building, housing a medical glove manufacturer and exporter company, RBF Latex Limited.
While a few fire tenders first reached the spot from Phase II fire station around 3:30pm, as many as 20 tenders had to be put in service in all. Chief fire officer Arun Kumar Singh told TOI that 18 fire tenders were called from nine different fire stations of Gautam Budh Nagar, two had to be called from neighbouring Ghaziabad district.
A few tenders were also called from private agencies, Kumar said. He said that the company Plastic Processors Export Private Limited did not have the required no objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department.
“The owners were called but they have not turned up so far. The firemen needed details about the placement of plastic material and oil in the company but none was present to share information. The company was not issued an NOC by our department,” he said adding that fire department officials are having a tough time managing the fire. “80 per cent of the fire had been brought under control,” he said, adding that it will take a few more hours to bring it under control completely. “It might continue till later than midnight,” Singh added.
The blaze seems to have caused damage of worth lakhs to the two companies, officials said.