Blaze brings down Ludhiana building

LUDHIANA: A major fire ripped through a two-storey building and brought it down in Phase V of Focal Point early on Friday. Two firemen and a few onlookers received minor injuries in the ensuing rumpus as the conflagration set off balls of fire. The incident reminiscent of 2017 Amarson Polymers building collapse had firemen on the alert.
The blaze started from the second floor of the building — which housed two hosiery units, one of garments and a godown — around 9pm Thursday.Within minutes, it spread to the first floor. Onlookers called up the fire department that rushed 16 tenders to the spot. At the time, there were no employees in the building that had closed after the day’s work.

Initially, firemen tried to douse the flames from outside as the shutters of the units were locked. But with their efforts bearing little results, they broke open the locks to gain access to the building. While one group of firemen went to the first floor, the other carried out the operation on the second floor. As the flames sprawled towards the ground floor, the firemen rushed out. Minutes later, between 2.30am and 3am, the building collapsed following a blast. Even as seven firemen, including two sub-fire officers, had a narrow escape, two of them — Gurinder Singh and Sandeep Singh — suffered minor injuries after the ravaging fire let loose balls of fire. The flying sparks left a few onlookers injured, too, as they jostled against the other at the crowded site. The injured were administered first-aid at the spot as an ambulance reached there.

As firemen resumed the operation, earth-moving machines were brought to the site to clear the debris.
Raj Kumar, an eye-witness and friend of the building owner, said, “The blaze started from the second floor. A neighbour informed me about the incident and called up the fire department. Through plastic pipes that drain water, the flames reached the ground floor. The building owner, Amit Arora, and his family are abroad. When my son was trying to bring out important documents from the office, a blast rocked the building. Though he ran out in the nick of time, he has received a few injuries.”
Assistant divisional fire officer Bhupinder Sandhu said, “A major tragedy was averted... had the firemen not rushed out in time, the collapse could have proved fatal for them. The building lacked fire-safety arrangements. For water, we had to depend on a neighbouring factory, an overhead tank in Sherpur and Focal Point fire station.”
A fireman said, “As the building owner was not here, nobody took out the material kept on the ground floor despite repeated reminders. If the material stored inside the building was taken out, then the blast might not have taken place as fire reached the ground floor after almost five hours.”
By evening, the situation was brought under control. But three tenders were on the stand-by at the site.
Batteries lead to explosion
Firemen said the ground floor housed Unistar Distributors Private Limited — a godown of tyres, tubes, cycle parts and toy vehicles. When the flames reached the ground floor, the toy car batteries exploded, filling the building with black, thick smoke. Two hosiery and a garment unit — Canvas Clothing, A Star Exports and Aery Tex — ran from the first and the second floors.
No common access passage
“Even as a godown and three units are running from the building, there is no common access passage. There is a separate entry for all. Besides, the main entrance was blocked. This not only delayed the operation, but impeded our efforts,” said a fireman.