Dhavali fire under control, soil sought to extinguish it

Ponda: It took 12 fire tenders and over 1.8 lakh litres of water to contain the fire that broke out at a scrapyard at Dhavali, Ponda on Friday afternoon. The fire services brought the fire under control by 10pm, but fire officials said they expected it to burn for a couple of days more.
Fire tenders have been kept alert in case the fire erupts again late at night. The fire broke out around 1pm.
Deputy director, fire and emergency services, Rajendra Haldankar, said though they managed to contain the fire, it could break out again at any time as the scrapyard has over 10m-high racks of PVC waste. Besides PVC waste, there were tins of chemicals and wooden planks stacked in the scrapyard, which will feed the fire.
“We have asked the Ponda deputy collector to provide soil to cover the fire. Fire can be extinguished easily if covered with soil,” the senior fire official told TOI.
Fire tenders were brought in from Ponda, Kundaim, Margao, Curchorem, Bicholim, Valpoi, Vasco, Verna and the St Inez-Panaji headquarter, and these made 60 rounds. Considering the intensity of fire, Haldankar said they brought in an aerial ladder platform from Margao and a turntable ladder from Panaji to spray water from a height.
Marcaim MLA and power minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar visited the site in the afternoon. He said that the area where scrapyards are situated is a residential one. All the scrapyards here are illegal and operating without any permissions, he said.
“If any officer tries to raze them, scrapyard ow-ners move court and get a stay. I have asked the Ponda sub-divisional officer and he has assured me that he will get the scrapyards razed within eight to 10 days,” Dhavalikar told reporters.
It may be recalled that, in 2012, a massive fire erupted in a scrapyard hardly 100m away from the present site.