Fire at Manesar factory doused after 14 hours

It took firefighters more than 14 hours to put out a fire that broke out due to explosion of a cylinder filled with liquid petroleum gas (LPG) at a Manesar factory on Sunday.

The fire broke out at Subros Ltd, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that supplies air conditioning systems to automobile manufacturers.

Earthmovers were used to remove concrete panels to allow firefighters access to location of the fire, below the construction debris.

Also read: Fire breaks out at Manesar factory, no casualties reported

A corner of the building had collapsed as the structural integrity was weakened due to the heat, fire department officials said. Fire department officials said that their crews spent the night and early morning hours waiting for earth movers to clear the debris and embers so they could reach the location of the fire.

Firefighting teams from Gurgaon, Manesar, Mewat, Rewari and Maruti Suzuki were called into action.

Outside the facility, Haryana police kept onlookers from entering the premises, although smoke had stopped rising above the facility.

Officials of the factory, Subros, who were present at the spot said they are ‘working out logistics’ to shift the facility temporarily to Noida.

IS Kashyap, the fire safety officer, said the fire did not pose danger to nearby factories or facilities and is unlikely to cause any disruption in service.

Kashyap said that fire department, along with Subros and Maruti Suzuki India, is assessing the extent of damage to essential equipment. A major share of Maruti Suzuki India’s vehicles air conditioning compressors is supplied by Subros.

There was no official confirmation on the cause of fire but officials at the spot said that the fire got aggravated due to explosion of LPG cylinders inside the facility.

On Sunday, a major fire broke at the Subros plant around 2.15 pm, at least 150 people were present inside the facility at the time of the incident. It took more than three hours to bring the situation under control. One person suffered minor burn injuries.

The facility was not violating any fire norms; the necessary firefighting equipment was in place and the officials had obtained a no-objection certificate from the fire department, officials of Haryana Fire Services said.