Rajkot: Chief, 6 firemen injured in blaze at dye factory

“The hot fuel splashed on the chief fire officer and a few firemen. They have been rushed to Madhuram Hospital,” Zahidkhan Yusuf, Station officer of Bedipara fire station in the city, said. The condition of the injured is stable. “There are seven people who have received naphtha infoxication. All are stable, all are good. All are sailing smooth but we shall observe them for sometime,” Dr Hemang Vasavada of the Madhuram Hospital said.

After Theba was injured, Yusuf led the operation. He said nobody else was injured.

“We suspect the fire started from a leaking valve in a naphtha line in the factory. The fire spread to other parts of the unit. Barrels of naphtha fuel and a tanker which was there on the premises also caught fire,” Yusuf said.

As the fire continued to rage even after continued spraying of foam, firefighters from all fire stations in the city were pressed into service. Eventually, the fire was brought under control around 6 pm. Yusuf said that they had to spray around 500 litres of foam to control the blaze. At least three cars parked on the factory premises were reduced to ashes, and the plant, machinery and some raw material have also been severely damaged.

Vehicular traffic in the area was diverted to alternate routes and police cordoned off the area to prevent the assembly of onlookers near the factory.