
the goan I network
margao
A major fire gutted a Fiber glass reinforced plastic unit at Sao Jose de Areal on Thursday, destroying property worth over Rs two crore.
The Goa unit of Tech-Force Composites Pvt Ltd located at Sao Jose de Areal manufacturing fiber glass reinforced plastic for automobiles, caught fire early Monday when the workers had come for the day shift.
Fire Officer Gill De Souza told The Goan that the workers, who were questioned by the fire services, has informed that the fire has occurred following a spark during the operation. The fire soon spread to the entire unit and also spread to the waste comprising of plastic and fibre, making fire fighting operations difficult.
While the Margao Fire Brigade had rushed to the site after receiving the information from the head office at around 9.20 am, it took two hours for the fire men to bring the fire in the main unit under control. However, fire continued in the adjoining premise which was a storage point for the plastic and other waste. Till late Thursday evening, fire men has requisitioned earth moving machinery to clear the debris and bring the fire under control.
Gill informed that fire tenders from Ponda, Verna, Curchorem, besides two fire tenders from Margao were used in the fire fighting operation. These five fire tenders made continuous trips from the Margao fire station to the unit under fire and by evening, around 22 tankers of water, approximately around 88,000 litres of water was used in the fire fighting operation.
To a question, Gill said though the unit owner has so far not made any claim as far as the exact loss is concerned, he pegged the total loss of property to over Rs two crore.