According to Pune fire brigade, the blaze started in the storage of a paint thinner at Kopare village located around 15 km from Pune. (representational) Two persons sustained serious burn injuries in a major blaze that started a chemical storage facility located in a village near Pune city late on Saturday. Three buses were also gutted in the incident, while some other buses parked outside an adjoining vehicle servicing and painting centre also suffered some damage.
According to Pune fire brigade, the blaze started in the storage of a paint thinner at Kopare village located around 15 km from Pune, between 10.30 pm and 11 pm on Saturday. Five fire tenders from Pune fire brigade and three more from the fire department of Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) were pressed into action.
Fire officer Gajanan Patrudkar said, “The facility where the fire started seems to be a storage facility of chemicals; mainly, highly inflammable paint thinners and some other substances too, like paint pigments, were kept in barrels. The cause behind the fire is yet to be ascertained. After receiving the call, fire tenders from Pune and PMRDA were rushed to the spot. But by the time we reached, the fire had intensified to a large extent because of the chemical storage.”
Patrudkar said two persons, including the man who was running the facility, were injured and rushed to Sassoon General Hospital, and that their injuries were serious.
“The fire had spread to the vehicle servicing and painting centre and three buses parked outside the centre were gutted. Some more buses were also damaged. We had to undertake firefighting operations on both premises,” Patrudkar added.
He said, “The storage facility had a tin shed, which made the fire extinguishing operation difficult. We used foam and also had to actually move some burning barrels of chemicals. We brought the fire under control around 1.30 am and then continued with the cooling operation to avoid any secondary fire. As of now, we do not know the exact nature of the storage facility and why so much paint thinner was being stored in one place, and that too without proper precautions.”
A police official said a probe will be conducted into the exact cause of the fire and whether negligence caused or aggravated the blaze.
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