Narela blaze: Operation to douse fire continues, likely to be over soon

NEW DELHI: The operation to douse the fire that broke out in Delhi’s Narela’s plastic granulation factory last night continued on Sunday morning.

The fire, which was declared to fall under the “medium category”, could not be doused completely the whole night as the blaze continued this morning.

However, according to the official, the fire was controlled late last night, but due to water not reaching the “small pockets” in the factory, the fire caught up again.

However, the fire is likely to be controlled in the next 2 to 3 hours, said the official.

“The columns bend because of the heat and the building is unsafe. The fire was completely extinguished at night but there was a small pocket inside the building which was getting smoulder due to which, the fire started again and took the same shape. We’re unable to enter inside. We’re dousing the fire from outside. It is expected to be controlled in the next 2-3 hours,” said divisional fire officer AK Sharma.

The official said that problems in the operation are also being caused due to the “small pockets” and high depth of the building.

“Actually the depth of the factory is very high and we are not able to take entry inside due to excessive heat in the building. We are facing problems in the operation due to small pockets and high depth of the building,” he said.

“Water is not able to go on the actual seat of the fire. You can see that we called here our hydraulic platform vehicle so that if there is anyone trapped inside, his/her life can be saved. We will do fire fighting in it from outside and will not put the lives of our fire workers in danger,” Sharma added.

The official informed that there is a requirement for two more water tenders on the fire site. Notably, 22 fire tenders were rushed to the spot at night after the fire broke out.

“Right now there are total of three bowers and three water tenders on the fire site. Two more vehicles are coming because officers have to put three vehicles in continuous operation. Due to the refilling process, they have called more vehicles for reinforcement” he said.

“We received the call about the fire in Narela Industrial area at around 9.10 pm. Fire officials reached the spot and declared it a medium-category fire. No casualty has been reported,” SK Dua, Fire Department told ANI last night.