Pune: One killed in chemical godown fire near Warje

PUNE: A 21-year-old man was killed while his cousin sustained burn injuries in a fire that broke out at a chemical godown in New Kopre village near Warje Malwadi late on Saturday night.
It took at least two hours for the PMRDA and the Pune fire brigade personnel to douse the fire. A paint booth in a neighbouring garage and two buses parked on the premises were completely damaged in the fire.
The godown shed had to be knocked over by an earth moving machine to douse the fire completely
Vaishali Chandgude, senior inspector of the Uttamnagar police said the deceased has been identified as Brijesh Sahani of Warje Malwadi. His cousin, Sanjay Sahani (37), sustained 15% burns. “Prima facie probe revealed that the fire broke out at the chemical godown but the cause is being ascertained,” Chandgude said.
Sahani had taken the godown on rent from the land owner, Raju Gaikwad. “Due to lockdown, the godown was shut for many days. About two months ago, Sahani had started operating it again. He and his cousin used to manage it and used to visit the godown once or twice a week,” Vijay Gaikwad, the land owner’s brother told TOI.
Mahesh Devle, who owns the garage next to the godown, told TOI that the fire broke out around 10.45pm on Saturday. “We were about to shut the garage when we heard commotion outside and also an explosion. When we came out we saw the fire at the godown,” Devle said.
Devle and his colleagues first shifted three cars from the garage. “While shifting the vehicles, we saw two men coming out of the garage. One of them was completely charred. One of the local residents took a vehicle from our garage and shifted the duo to the hospital,” Devle said.
He said that the fire also spread to the garage. “The paint booth, which is the costliest unit in our garage, was completely damaged in the fire. Two buses belonging to the landlord, which were parked outside the garage, were damaged by the fire too. This is why the fire tenders could not reach till the garage,” Devle said.
Devendra Potphode, chief officer of the PMRDA fire brigade told TOI, “Our two tenders were sent to the spot to douse the fire. With the help of a locals, our men shifted around eight vehicles parked in front the godown.”
Gajanan Pathrudkar, fire officer from the Pune fire brigade, told TOI, “We had to use foam to douse the fire as it was a type of liquid fire. There were over 15 barrels filled with chemicals. A few of the tin barrels exploded as gas had accumulated inside them due to the heat, while the plastic barrels melted,” Pathrudkar said.
Due to the fire and extreme heat, it was not possible for the firemen to reach inside the godown. “We somehow managed to shift a few chemical barrels. After initial cooling, we used an earth moving machine to to break the melted structure of the godown and douse the fire. It took us around two hours to completely douse the fire,” Pathrudkar said.
He said that the structure of the godown was not suitable for storing the chemicals in large quantity.
“There was no fire fighting system installed in the godown,” Pathrudkar said, adding, “To store such a large quantity of chemicals, there must be a concrete structure with proper drainage system so that the chemical which spilled on the floor while shifting can drain out,” Pathrudkar said.