COLVALE: Scrap worth lakhs of rupees was gutted in a major fire at a scrap yard at Colvale Industrial Estate belonging to on Mahmood Khan on Friday evening.
Heaps of packaging material, plastic and rubber were dumped on 3,000 sq mts which caught fire.
According to Mapusa Fire personnel, they received the information of the incident at around 5 pm. Later, the fire personnel led by Mapusa Fire Station in-charge Bosco Ferrao rushed to the spot and started their operation.
The fire personnel said they managed to extinguish the fire only after three hours and a total of 35 fire personnel were required to douse the flames. Around 200 litres of foam cans were used to control the fire.
Apart two from Mapusa, fire tenders from Bicholim, Pernem, Pilerne and Panjim were requisitioned. Binani and Glen Mark supplied them with water for refilling the tenders.
“The exact cause of fire in not known, but the magnitude of the fire was so big that services of 35 fire personnel and fire tenders from other places were required to extinguish the fire,” said an official from the Fire Station.
Locals allege that the fire occurred due to an unattended fire set in a nearby field which further spread due to the breeze and gutted the scrap yard. This incident caused heavy pollution and thick black smoke.
Fire Officer from Panjim Fire Station Shrikrishna Parrikar was also part of this operation which went on till 10 pm.
