OLD GOA
In a major fire incident, a yard housing decorations and other materials was gutted at Sao Pedro-Old Goa on Friday morning.
A truck along with a scooter was also damaged in the fire.
Though the exact reason behind the fire was not established, short circuit was suspected as fire officials were informed by labourers that the fire initially started near an electrical panel.
The loss incurred in the fire was also not ascertained, but fire officials say that it could be over Rs 1 crore.
Narrating the incident, sources at the Old Goa fire station informed that they received a call at 7.02 am that the yard was engulfed in fire.
“Immediately, our fire tender rushed to the site and reached the spot within five minutes. On reaching the site, it was observed that the fire was intense and had spread to almost the entire yard, due to which backup fire tenders were called from Kundaim, Ponda, Panaji headquarters and Panaji fire stations,” the source said.
“The fire was brought under control after six hours of firefighting exercise which involved use of special firefighting equipment.”
“The fire spread quickly as materials like clothes, thermocol, wood, etc, which are used in decorations were stored in the yard,” the sources informed.
However even after the fire was brought under control, the Old Goa fire tender stayed behind to ensure that the fire did not re-ignite. As feared, the fire did re-ignite at 6 pm, but the Old Goa fire tender encountered a snag and a fire tender from Panaji rushed to the site and extinguished the fire.
The sources further informed that one of the labourers staying at the yard informed that the fire initially started at 6 am. “The workers themselves tried to douse the fire and the fire brigade was informed an hour later, only after the fire reached the truck,” the source said.
“If the incident was reported on time, the fire could have been brought under control before it engulfed the yard and property loss would have been minimal.”
“But we were still able to save decoration material which was located in a shed at the entrance,” the source said.
Divisional Officer Rajendra Haldankar supervised the firefighting operation in coordination with Old Goa fire station incharge Namdev Dhargalkar, Kundaim fire station incharge Rupesh Sawant and Panaji headquarters incharge Ravi H Naik.
Old Goa sub officer R D Parab, Panaji HQ sub officer S M Raut, Kundaim station leading firefighter Arvind Dessai, Ponda station leading firefighter S R Gaonkar, Panaji station leading firefighter A B Mishal and other firefighters participated in the firefighting exercise.
