Material worth crores gutted in MIDC fire

Viraj Deshpande | TNN | Apr 9, 2020, 05:18 IST

Nagpur: A massive fire broke out at an ink making unit Vyankatesh Udyog Pvt Ltd in MIDC Hingna on Wednesday at around 2.30am. The massive blaze also engulfed an adjacent cardboard making factory. The cause of fire is still unknown as the companies were supposedly shut due to the ongoing lockdown.
Sources said that no one was injured in the incident but material and machinery worth crores was destroyed.
MIDC fire fighting teams rushed to the spot as soon as the fire was reported to them. They failed to control the fire for almost two hours and then sought help from Nagpur fire brigade at around 4am.
Several fire tenders of NMC, under the supervision of chief fire officer (CFO) Rajendra Uchake, were sent to the spot. Eleven fire tenders, including two bowsers, made several rounds to bring water from different locations. It took fire fighters more than 15 hours to control the massive fire.
Apparently, the ink unit had a huge stock of alcohol. The alcohol-based chemicals were stored in underground and over ground storage tanks and also in drums. The building structure as well as most of the chemicals was destroyed in fire. Fire spread to adjoining Sainath Packaging unit belonging to Gowardandas Balani.
The alcohol-based chemicals worked as fuel for the fire. Neither the company nor MIDC officials had alcohol resistant foam needed for fighting chemical fires.