Gandhinagar: Four firefighters suffer massive burns in LPG cylinder blast
The incident took place in a temporary structure situated next to a public toilet in Gandhinagar’s Sector 4 A area on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, according to the officer.
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The Gandhinagar Fire control received the call about a blaze in Sector 4A of the capital city. (Representational Image)Four firefighters were injured after an LPG cylinder exploded while they were trying to put out a fire in a hut in Gandhinagar, an officer said on Saturday.
The incident took place in a temporary structure situated next to a public toilet in Gandhinagar’s Sector 4 A area on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, according to the officer.
The moment they attempted to enter the burning structure, “the gas cylinder exploded”, injuring all four firefighters, said an officer describing the fire call that led to four personnel of the Gandhinagar Fire and Emergency Services (GFES) suffering severe burns injuries.
After receiving the input about the fire, it took about 2-3 minutes for the first responder vehicles to reach the spot, said sources. According to the sources, the “fire had taken place in a kachha hut built next to a public toilet”.
The four firefighters, identified as Mahavirsingh Chauhan, sustained 49 per cent burn injuries, Ranjit Thakor suffered 29 per cent burns, Vipul Rabari suffered 25 per cent burns and Bhupendra Patel received minor injuries on his hand, said Rajesh Patel, who is the in-charge Chief Fire Officer (CFO) of GFES. The post of CFO for Gandhinagar was created in January 2024 and has not been filled yet.
According to another officer: “GFES had received a call about a fire incident in a public garden. Firefighters rushed to the site, and even as they were unrolling the hose pipes, the others attempted to enter the premises, however, an LPG cylinder kept inside the temporary structure exploded, injuring the firefighters.”
All four firefighters were immediately rushed to Gandhinagar Civil Hospital. However, since there is no burns ward in the public sector hospital located in the capital city of Gujarat, the three men with the serious injuries, had to be moved again, travelling another half an hour, to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, which is 22 km away, said sources.
Sharing health updates of the injured, Dr Jayesh P Sachde, head of Burns and Plastic Surgery unit, Ahmedabad Civil Hospital said, “The firefighters are in a stable condition. We have to see how well their burn injuries heal. It will take about 2-3 weeks for them to recuperate.”
The blaze in the meantime, was doused by another team of firefighters. On Saturday morning, Gandhinagar Municipal Commissioner JN Vaghela as well as Gujarat State Fire Prevention Services (GSFPS) Deputy Director Anil Chavda visited the injured firefighters in the hospital.
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