Four thousand transformers, meters, conductors, wires and oil were burnt to ashes in a fire in the main godown of power company CSPDCL located in Gudhiyari area of Raipur. In this incident the power company has suffered a loss of more than Rs 400 crore.
30 to 40 fire brigades could control the massive fire that broke out at 1.30 pm on Friday. SSP, Collector, fire fighting in-charge and district administration officials remained present on the spot till late night. The work of extinguishing the small flames continued even late at night. Electricity in the area was also switched off.
Almost the entire part of this warehouse spread over 3.5 acres was engulfed in fire. Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai also reached the spot late Friday evening. He said that the damage caused will be assessed. How the fire started will also be investigated.
Due to the fire in the warehouse, the transformers kept there started bursting like firecrackers. As the fire increased, clouds of smoke started appearing far and wide in the sky. The police had blocked the road and evacuated a radius of 3 kilometers. Apart from this, nearby houses were also evacuated.
Efforts are also being made to provide relief to the families affected by the fire. On Saturday, relief amount of Rs 3 lakh 60 thousand has been distributed to 40 families.
Such a big accident due to a spark from the transformer
An employee of the warehouse narrated the entire incident on the condition of anonymity. He told that he was outside. During this, there was a loud explosion at 1.30 in the afternoon. Hearing the sound, everyone ran inside and saw that the spark emanating from the transformer fell into a drum lying at some distance from there.
Before we could understand anything, the drums started burning and there were explosions. A large number of drums filled with engine oil were kept at some distance from the direction where the explosions were taking place. The employees present there started pushing these drums out of the store. Opened the lids of some drums.
When the fire started increasing, all the employees came out towards the road. Seeing the flames, the crowd started gathering, and by then the police also arrived. The crowd was sent out of the boundary of the store. During this time, the departmental officer and fire brigade team reached and started extinguishing the fire.
Fire increased due to lack of fire fighting system
According to power company sources, goods worth crores are kept in the godown where the fire broke out. The luggage was kept, but no arrangements were made for its security. After blocking the boundary of the store house, the officers left it to the DE. There is no provision of fire fighting equipment here.
Due to lack of equipment, the employees present in the godown could not even try to extinguish the fire and the fire kept increasing.
Panic due to explosions, people ran away from home with cylinders
Members of the Uike family, who live at some distance from the godown, said that the first explosion occurred at 1.30 in the afternoon. When I came outside I saw smoke coming out. After some time, there were three to four explosions and huge flames started appearing inside the store. The heat of the fire was becoming unbearable.
Meanwhile, the fire brigade vehicle arrived and started trying to extinguish the fire. Meanwhile, someone said that the cylinders kept in the house could burst due to the heat of the fire. Hearing this, people living nearby started taking out cylinders from their houses and running away. Some people started leaving after tying their money and jewelery in clothes due to fear of fire.
40 families will get compensation
Raipur Collector, who reached the spot after the fire, announced compensation to the local people and his subordinates. District administration officials said that people who have suffered financial loss in the areas adjacent to the godown will be compensated. The district administration team has identified 40 such families.
The water tank, pipeline, meter and kitchen roof kept on the roof of the house of these families got damaged due to the fire. District administration officials will give checks to all these families today (April 6). The family will get compensation according to the loss it suffers.
CM Sai said – the accident will be investigated
Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai, who reached the spot after the accident, told Dainik Bhaskar that by the grace of God there was no loss of life. Some officers of the department also showed promptness. The oil tanker was opened, due to which there was no major blast. The people who have suffered losses will be assessed and the cause of the fire will also be investigated.
Officers remained at the spot throughout the night
Chief Secretary P Dayanand reached the spot at 12.30 pm. Talking to Dainik Bhaskar, he said that the fire was huge, but the team is working with full alertness. Along with Collector, SP, Municipal Corporation staff, fire fighters, PSU, private sector people, resources were also provided from other districts. The fire was brought under control in record time.
He said that the Chief Minister was keeping an eye on the situation. As soon as the information was received, he sent me to the spot. The entire team was working here and the situation was brought under control by 8 to 9 pm.
Chief Secretary gave instructions for investigation
The Chief Secretary told that this was the store of our restoration company. I have ordered an investigation into this. The committee will investigate it. We will also work to ensure that such incidents do not happen in future.
More than 10 thousand families remained without electricity for 9 hours
Due to the fire, the electricity company had switched off the lights in Kota, Ramnagar, Gudhiyari, Laxman Nagar, Bharat Nagar, Shivanand Nagar areas. The supply was started after 1.30 pm at around 11 pm. More than 10 thousand families continued to survive without lights.
People living in Kalinga Nagar remained troubled due to lack of electricity throughout the night. People outside their homes kept sleeping on the road and spent the night amidst heat and mosquitoes. Local resident Lalita Deep said that small children are very upset. Children have exams. Light has come in many areas, but there is darkness in our colony.
Electricity was turned off to prevent electric current from spreading through water.
Nageshwardeep, who lives near Kalinga Nagar FCI warehouse, said that I am studying B.Com second year, my exam is on Saturday. The lights are off and lights have come on in all other areas. There is no light in Kalinga Nagar area itself. When the leaders arrived, the main road lights were switched on, after their departure the lights were switched off.
The officers cited security as the reason for switching off the lights. According to electricity company officials, water was being used to extinguish the fire. There was a fear of electrocution due to this. Due to this fear the electricity supply was stopped.
The sounds were like a bomb exploding
Durga Uike, who lives near Jaistambh along the boundary of the godown, said that at 1.30 in the afternoon, there was a sound of the transformer exploding like a bomb blast. After that there were two consecutive explosions. Hearing the sound, the family members came out and secured themselves. There was relief when the team of police, fire fighting and officers arrived.
Crowd gathered on the road after the accident
Roshan, who lives near Bharat Mata Chowk, said that people were coming from far and wide after seeing the flames. A huge crowd of people had gathered on the road. After this the policemen put up barricades and chased them away from the fire site. The lights are not coming on since 1.30 in the afternoon and the children have board exams. If the light comes then there will be some relief.
Collector took stock of relief works
Compensation is being given to the families affected by the fire in the godown of the electricity department in Gudhiyari. Collector Gaurav Singh himself reached the spot on Saturday morning and took stock of the relief works. Revenue officials are distributing compensation amount to the affected families on the spot.
So far, relief amount of Rs 3 lakh 60 thousand has been distributed to 40 families.
Firefighters will be honored
30 to 40 fire brigade employees worked hard to extinguish the fire that broke out in the electricity company’s warehouse. This was the reason that the fire could be controlled in record time. CM Vishnu Dev Sai said that I have thanked the firefighters who extinguished the fire and they will also be honoured.
The godown has caught fire twice before.
This is not the first time that a fire has broken out in this godown of the electricity company located in Gudhiyari. There has been fire twice before also. Even after this the company officials did not learn any lesson. After completing the tender process of store and purchase, goods from the companies reach the godown.
The store keeper monitors it and supplies it as per the demand. There was not much damage in the first fire. After the accident on Friday, the departmental officials are demanding to set up the office of SNP (Stores and Purchase) in the godown at Gudhiyari instead of the headquarters at Daganiya.
