Chemical container fire causes traffic jam on Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway

According to firefighters, as per preliminary information the driver had informed them that he was carrying barrels of paint in the container. The driver had a narrow escape from the blazing fire. Six fire tenders were initially rushed to the spot with a capacity of 5000 litres of water each while another fire fighter with a capacity of 12,000-14,000 litres of water was also used to douse the fire, fire officials said.

Chemical foam and a water bouncer of 8,000 litres water capacity was also used to bring the fire under control.

Chief Fire Officer, Anand divison, Narendra Pandya said, “The exact chemical being carried in the container is yet to be ascertained. But the container was fully loaded has hence the impact was so loud and huge. Our fire fighters are still on the ground and it will take an hour more to control the fire.” By the time the story was published the fire was not brought under control completely.

Around 7:30 pm, there was also a blast in the container, flaring up the fire more. However, no casualties or injuries of any kind were reported, Pandaya added. A traffic jam of 20 kms was also observed on the express highway as the jam continued till late in the night.

Taking cognizance of the fire accident and ongoing situation, MF Dastoor, chief fire officer of Ahmedabad said, “It appears that there was an accident between two vehicles on the Ahmedabad Vadodara expressway on Wednesday evening. One of the vehicles, a truck, was carrying barrels containing oil paint and the other vehicle had hit the truck from behind thereby locking the barrels between the two. The barrels started exploding due to the impact and a fire started in which two vehicles have been destroyed. Rescue work has started and We hope to control the situation in the next one hour. There is a 25 km long jam on the expressway due to the accident.”