Personnel of the Fire and Emergency department engaged in fire fighting operation at the Scrap yard at Sao Jose de Areal on Sunday evening. Santosh Mirajkar
Scrapyard goes up in flames in Areal
THE GOAN NETWORK
MARGAO
What was feared by the beleaguered residents of Sao Jose de Areal has come true. A major fire broke out in a scrap yard on Sunday evening, as thick black smoke billowed from the site till late in the night.
Fire tenders from Margao were rushed to Areal after receiving a call at around 3.45 pm. However, till 9 pm, the fire men were still battling the fire, hampered by the smoke emanating from the dump yard.
Fire Officer Gill De Souza told The Goan from the site late evening that the smoke billowing from the dump yard was coming in the way of the fire fighting operation.
The Fire officer could not disclose the items stored in the dump yard and whether any chemicals were stored inside. “What we can see at the moment is that there are barrels and other items stored at the site. There are two to three sheds inside the premises storing goods,” Gill said.
A total of four fire tenders were used by the fire men to extinguish the fire. The fire fighting operation continued late through the night.
Residents of Sao Jose de Areal have been agitating against the presence of a large number of scrap yards in the village, but in vain. In fact, Sao Jose de Areal has earned the dubious distinction as the scrap yard 'Aadda' of Salcete on account of the large number of yards located in the village.
