A massive fire broke out at a godown housing chemicals in Bengaluru on Tuesday. At around 11.30 am, residents of New Guddadahalli, near the Deepanjali Nagar Metro Station, called the South Fire Station to report a fire at what they claimed was a “chemical factory” in their locality.
As the fire broke out in Renuka Chemical Godown, employees were evacuated. Employees of Bhagyalaxmi Switch Gears, an electrical parts manufacturing factory, located next to the godown were also evacuated from the building. The Fire and Emergency Services personnel sent out 15 fire engines to contain the fire. By 11.45 am, the fire engines had reached the spot and began dousing the flames. "There have been no casualties as we know. We have been carrying out efforts to douse the flames since the last four hours,” said Regional Fire Officer Ramesh, who was a part of the firefighting efforts.
Officers at the South Fire Station’s control room said that the factory was located in close proximity to several residential buildings. Their primary task was to ensure that the fire did not spread to other buildings. “We had to ensure that the fire did not spread to nearby buildings as the setbacks are very narrow. The building has been burned down completely. There’s nothing left. The firefighting efforts are still going on. We will be able to determine the cause for the fire only after this is complete,” RFO Ramesh added.
The fire department officials worked through the day to put out the flames. Even at 6 pm, the fire was yet to be doused completely. "We can estimate the damage only when the fire is doused completely. So far, we have not reported any injuries or casualties," added Ramesh.