Fire in chemical factory in Greater Noida

A massive fire broke out at a chemical factory in Greater Noida’s Surajpur on Saturday evening due to a suspected short circuit, police and fire officials said Sunday, adding no casualties or injuries were reported in the incident.

The fire, which erupted at around 4.35pm, was controlled by 10pm after continuous firefighting efforts, officials said.

Greater Noida, fire officer, Indra Pal Singh said that three fire tenders from a nearby fire station were initially rushed to the spot. However, the fire could not be controlled after which around 35 fire tenders from surrounding districts, including Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, and Meerut, were called, said Pradeep Kumar Choubey, chief fire officer.

All the workers at the factory had exited the unit by the time the blaze erupted, officials said.

“The fire took place in the basement, where all the chemicals were kept,” Choubey said. The Surajpur’s site-C factory was involved in manufacturing unsaturated polyester (synthetic resins formed by the reaction of dibasic organic acids and polyhydric alcohols)...Private aggregators also provided fire tenders to douse the flame,” added Choubey.

Police said that while the exact cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, they suspect that it broke out due to a short-circuit. They were yet to register a case in the incident, Surajpur station house officer, Avadesh Pratap, said.

They have also identified the factory owner as Harish Chandra Sharma, a resident of Beta-2.

Meanwhile, residents of the area said they faced irritation in the eyes and skin after the fire. A resident of Shivalik Homes in Surajpur, who refused to be named, said, “The skies were filled with thick smoke till Sunday early in the morning. Since Saturday night, my family has been facing difficulty breathing and eye irritation.”

“Due to factories in surrounding areas, we are dealing with poor air quality, but after Saturday’s incident, the situation got worse,” said the resident of Shivalik Homes.