Noida: Over 80 evacuated as fire breaks out at garment factory

Noida: Over 80 workers were evacuated after a massive fire broke out at a three-storey garment factory in Sector 67, Noida, on Saturday afternoon which soon spread to an adjacent pharmaceutical factory, fire officers said, adding that it took 28 fire tenders about five hours to control the blaze. No injuries were reported, they added.

The blaze was fullyextinguished around 8.30pm, officials said.

According to chief fire officer (Gautam Budh Nagar district) Pradeep Kumar Chaubey, the fire department received a call about the blaze at around noon from SJR Garments factory.

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“Immediately, seven fire tenders were pressed into service from the Phase 3 fire station. The fire had broken out at the periphery of the factory in an open area, where a pile of garment scrapes had been stored under a tin shade,” he said, adding that the cause of the blaze was yet to be ascertained.

“There were around 80 factory workers at the factory at the time who were immediately evacuated from the three-storey building,” said Chaubey, adding that workers from nearby factories were also asked to evacuate as a precautionary measure. The fire soon spread to the first, second and third floors of the building.

“Because of the wind speed and high heat, the fire spread to all floors of the building. Once it reached the top floor, it also spread to the next-door pharmaceutical factory’s third floor. While the factory was closed, the medicine stock kept inside was immediately gutted. However, it has not spread to the lower floors of the building so far,” said Chaubey.

Fire tenders were called from Hapur, Bulandshahr, Mathura and Aligarh. Thick black smoke billowing out of the building was visible from nearby areas, prompting several residents to share videos of the same on the social media websites.

On June 3, a short circuit in the air conditioning system of a private company in Sector 10, Noida, had triggered a fire. In a similar incident, a fire broke out in an IT company in Sector 63, Noida, on June 1 due to a blast in the indoor unit of an air conditioner.

According to the fire department data, 805 fire incidents were reported from January to April 2024 in Gautam Budh Nagar and 121 cases were reported in January, 136 in February, 182 in March, and 366 in April. Fire department officers said that the data from the month of May is yet to be compiled.