Fire fighters battle 20 hours to douse blaze at Thoothukudi thermal power plant

MADURAI: A major fire which broke out in the cooling and control rooms of Tuticorin Thermal Power Station (TTPS) in Thoothukudi on Saturday 10 pm was extinguished on Sunday 6 pm, after a marathon firefight which lasted over 20 hours.

A team of 50 fire fighters battled all through Saturday night and Sunday to douse the fire. Ten fire tenders were pressed into service.

A fire response call was received around 10 pm on Saturday. Fire tenders from neighboring districts were also pressed into service owing to the magnitude of the task.

After the fire was extinguished, district Collector K Elambahavath along with Revenue officials inspected the plant and said that it broke out from the cable gallery of the first unit and the second unit of the thermal plant. The fire was accidental in nature and the administration sees no foul play.

But fire fight was challenging for the crew who brought in the aid of Fire Safety Engineer, Civil Engineer and Electrical Engineer of TTPS, to handle the blaze. The firefighters’ coordinated efforts were crucial in successfully handling such a major fire at the thermal power plant. Thoothukudi Corporation and VOC Port pitched in sending additional fire equipment and tools, apart from water tenders.

Even after the fire was put out, smoke lingered making authorities cautious. Two firefighters fainted after inhaling toxic smoke during the operation. They were hospitalised and are reportedly safe. No loss of life was reported in the unit which went up in flames by night. Units one and two of the power plant were shut down owing to the fire, but three and four are safe and power generation is on, the Collector said.

Electric wires worth several crores were damaged in the fire. 1,050 MW of electricity is generated by five units of the power plant. Efforts are being made to bring the affected units back on service, sources said.