30 houses evacuated as trucks catch fire, one of them with LPG cylinders

Ghaziabad: A fire broke out at a parking lot near Rajbagh metro station in Sahibabad on Thursday afternoon. As the blaze grew, several explosions were reported from the spot, sparking fears of the flames spreading to nearby houses. Around 30 homes in the area had to be evacuated as firefighters worked to control the blaze for over three hours.
No injuries were reported from the fire, which is suspected to have started from a cigarette butt that was not properly disposed of, fire officials said.
The Saiful Bengali parking area, which can accommodate around 50 trucks, is located close to the Rajbagh metro station. The area is densely populated, with the lot surrounded by around 50 houses that are home to a population of approximately 300. On Thursday afternoon, around 35 trucks were parked at the lot, carrying items like empty gas cylinders, fibre, wiring cables, utensils, grease oil, toys, clothes, and groceries.
According to chief fire officer (CFO) Rahul Pal, the fire sparked a little before 12.30pm, with flames catching onto one parked truck loaded with sanitary goods and spreading quickly to five more. One of the trucks which caught on fire was full of gas cylinders, most of which were fortunately empty. While eyewitnesses reported several small explosions during the blaze, fire officials are yet to determine what caused them.
"One foam and one water tender each from the Vaishali, Kotwali, and Loni fire stations arrived at the scene. Firefighters began extinguishing the blaze, but as it continued to spread, additional fire tenders were called in — three from Kotwali, four from Vaishali, one from Loni, and one more from a private company," the CFO said.
A total of 10 fire tenders were present at the scene, and firefighters were eventually able to control the blaze after over three hours. The flames were fully extinguished by 4pm.
As the fire burned on, accompanied by the explosions, residents of surrounding houses were evacuated from their homes in case the flames spread to other nearby structures.
According to officials, the incident could have been more severe, as the parking area is surrounded by a dense population, a petrol pump, and a local market. If the fire had spread, it could have resulted in a major disaster or significant loss of life, fire officials explained.
"Investigations are underway to determine the ownership of the burnt trucks, their destination, and the identities of the driver and conductor. Efforts are also being made to find out what goods were in the trucks. Initial investigation revealed that someone threw a cigarette into bushes near the truck and later, the fire surrounded the truck. An assessment of the damage is also being conducted," CFO Pal said.
As the fire spread across the lot, thick plumes of black smoke surrounded the area and were visible in the sky for several kilometres. Residents reported having difficulty breathing and experiencing suffocation due to the smoke cloud that settled over many of their homes. Chaos erupted in the markets as well, as onlookers gathered to watch the incident unfold.
Once evacuations began, many of the residents left the area altogether until the situation was clear, while others joined the firefighters and locals in dousing the flames.
Rakesh Shukla, whose family was evacuated, said that they heard the sound of an explosion on Thursday afternoon and came out into their balcony to see the fire already burning in full force as several fire tenders surrounded the trucks.
"The truck drivers and locals were trying to douse the flame and seeing this, my son and I also went to help them as my house is just 50 metres from the spot. Later, police arrived and they started to evacuate the people whose houses were within a radius of 100 metres to avoid any casualties due to the cylinder explosion," Shukla said.
Ankit Kumar, another resident who was evacuated, told TOI that a police constable knocked at his door around 1.20pm to inform him about the fire.
"He asked me to come out of the house along with my family members. Immediately, my wife, my two children, and I came out of the house. I sent my family members to my relatives' house, and I was helping the others to control the situation," Kumar said.
Once the fire was completely under control, all residents returned to their houses by 4.30pm, he added.