A fire at a manufacturing unit of hand sanitisers and cosmetics in Kherki Daula was put out after 30 hours on Sunday. The fire at Stella Industries Limited, which started around 9.15am on Saturday, was doused at 3pm on Sunday.
Fire department officials said they had managed to contain the fire at the three-storey establishment around 4pm on Saturday, but a combination of chemicals, used in the processing of hand sanitisers, along with plastic containers resulted in the fire continuing in the basement of the building for another 23 hours.
“The plastic containers, in which the solution of hand sanitisers is added, melted due to the fire and disfigured in such a manner that they formed a layer on top of the basement and prevented water from seeping through below. The highly flammable chemicals were stored below this layer and they continued burning as water couldn’t pass through. Finally, around 7am on Sunday, we used air-pressure machines to shift the topmost layer of plastic and started dousing the fire below,” said IS Kashyap, assistant divisional fire safety officer.
Kashyap said that a total of 21 fire tenders were used to douse the fire, as part of a phased operation — all 21 were used in dousing operations until 4pm on Saturday, after which only 12 tenders were deployed and subsequently, this number was reduced to six early Sunday morning.
Fire department officials said that since March 25, when the national lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus was enforced, the company, which manufactures cosmetics, toiletries and other personal care products, had only been manufacturing hand sanitisers.
“The owners of the company today (Sunday) informed us that on Saturday, they resumed production of perfumes and deodorants. As soon as they started, one of their machines on the ground floor started sparking and the chemical vapour in the container caught fire, which subsequently spread throughout the building,” said Kashyap.
He said that all workers inside the building managed to escape unhurt when the fire was just starting to spread. He also said that occupants of five residential buildings located in the vicinity had left the area as a precaution and returned by Saturday evening, when the fire was contained to the basement.
Kashyap said that the company had a conditional no-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department as their building plan approval was pending. They were given a conditional NOC, with a final one to be obtained in six months. He said that the company had proper entry and exit routes, and the necessary firefighting equipment.
