A massive blaze that broke out at a godown in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar on Tuesday evening has still not been doused.
The Air Force has joined the rescue operations and an Mi-17 helicopter has been deployed to douse the fire, reports news agency ANI.
No casualty was reported but chief fire officer of the Delhi fire services, Atul Garg, fell unconscious during the firefighting operations. The fire also partially engulfed a school building and a gymnasium, fire officials said.
Fire officers said fire was of the “highest magnitude” this season. Plastic and raw material stored at the factory fuelled the fire.
At least 35 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to contain the blaze. Aam Aadmi Party legislator Somnath Bharti also visited the spot.
Police and DDMA staff made continuous announcements, asking residents to stay inside their houses. All vehicles were removed as precautionary measure.
Speaking to Hindustan Times earlier on Tuesday evening, Garg said the fire was reported at their control room at 4.17 pm.
“This fire was of the highest magnitude so far in this season. The fire started from a truck and spread to a godown of rubber and plastic raw material where the vehicle was parked. The godown is right behind Sant Nirankari Public School and had it occurred in the afternoon, evacuation of children would have been challenging as the area is congested,” Garg said.
Fire chief GC Mishra said the fire might caused a portion of the school building to collapse.
AAP legislator Somnath Bharti said the incident brings to fore his pending demand of a fire station nearby. On whether the godown was being illegally run, Somnath said it is a matter of investigation.
“There’s a chemical factory behind the school. We saw the fire around 4.30 pm and one of the residents called the fire and police. Smoke entered our houses, said Rajni Kapani, who lives right in front of the godown.