Fire Causes Damage to Residential Buildings Adjacent to the Unit
Port Blair, Sept. 9: A major fire was reported at the Andaman Pencil Wood Work company situated at Prothrapur Junction, in the mid night of 9th September 2020, in which goods worth Crores of Rupees was turned to ashes.
The fire broke at around 11 pm, soon after which the first call was received by the A&N Fire Services. Acting upon the fire call and gauging the severity, the Fire Services immediately diverted all stations with on duty and off duty staff to fight the fire.
As many as 10 Fire Tenders including two Water Bouzers were pressed into action. The fire was so major that it threw a challenge for the Fire Fighters, who had to opt for fire fighting from two different directions.
Reports also indicate that the major support was rendered by MSS Water Suppliers, which came as great support to the Fire Fighters. The MSS team had supplied nearly 25 tankers of water non-stop which aided the fire fighters, without wasting much time. Meanwhile, the local youths and nearby residents also had joined to support the Fire Fighters at the hour of need.
The fire was so massive that many of the fire fighters had suffered injuries as they had to deal with excessive heat and dense cloud of smoke, which lasted around 16 hours. Reports indicate that few fire fighters had suffered minor fracture, skin and eye irritation due to poisonous smoke from the shed where UPVC materials were stored.
It was after 16 continuous hours of fire fighting that the fire was brought under control at around 4.40 pm today (10th Sept. 2020).
While the fire had destroyed goods worth Crores of Rupees inside the premises of Andaman Pencil Wood Works, damages to houses and properties attached to the industry was also noticed. The compression unit of Air Conditioners, Washing Machine, Electrical Wiring among others of the nearby residence were seen melting with the heat of the fire.
It is also gathered that the premises of Andaman Pencil Wood Works company has also three more units, which dealt with River Sand, UPVC materials etc. apart from wood. There were around ten staff of the company inside the premises, who managed to jump across the compound wall to save their lives.