Ghaziabad: Officer falls off second floor in firefight

GHAZIABAD: A fire broke out at a three-storey chemical factory in the industrial area of Kavi Nagar on Sunday morning. A fire inspector, who was at the spot dousing flames, was injured when he fell from the second floor and landed on the first floor of the building.
He has received shoulder and leg injuries and his condition is stated to be stable, officials said.
No one else was injured in the incident but several vehicles parked near the chemical factory at Pandav Nagar have been damaged.
The blaze was first noticed around 9.30 am and within minutes, flames spread to an adjacent factory, damaging parts of it. More than 15 fire tenders from Ghaziabad and Noida were called in and it took over five hours to contain the blaze.
Sunil Kumar Singh, the chief fire officer (CFO), Ghaziabad, said: “We sent a few fire tenders to the spot after getting information from local people. As the flames started spreading, more fire engines were called in from other parts of Ghaziabad and the neighbouring district of Gautam Budh Nagar. No factory worker was injured in the blaze.”
Yogendra Purusharth, an inspector with the fire department, was injured in the fire fighting operation.
“A portion of the chemical factory’s roof had collapsed and a few iron roads were lying on the second floor of the building. While trying to douse the flames, Yogendra stumbled and fell from the second floor. He landed on the first floor and received some injuries. The officer is being treted at a hospital and his condition is stated to be stable,” Singh said.
According to local people, smoke from the factory could be seen from a distance of 4-5 km. The fire spread quickly as a lot of flammable items were kept on the premises of the chemical factory, Singh said. He added that a probe has been ordered to ascertain the exact cause of the blaze.
Factory officials said, initial estimates suggest that the loss amounts to around Rs 20 lakh.
In another incident on Sunday afternoon, a fire broke out at a chemical factory near GT Road.
Singh said that they got information about the incident around 2.45 pm.
“Seven fire tenders were sent to the spot and it took about 45 minutes to douse the flames. No casualties have been reported and we are trying to find out what caused the blaze,” he said.