Fire Erupts at GAIL Storage Yard Near CNG Pump
A massive fire broke out in the storage yard of GAIL (Gas Authority of India Limited) located about 50 meters from its CNG pump in the Karkhiyaon industrial area along the Varanasi-Lucknow highway under Phulpur police station limits on Friday night. The blaze caused chaos as flames rose high, visible from approximately 2 kilometers away.
Due to the high intensity of the fire, vehicular movement was stopped on one lane of the highway. Firefighters worked for several hours to extinguish the blaze with the help of fire tenders called in from the entire district and hydrants from all factories in the industrial area.
Firefighting Operation Lasts Over Three Hours
After the flames were extinguished, Chief Fire Officer Anand Singh Rajput stated that 11 fire tenders carried out firefighting exercises continuously for over three and a half hours. Complete control over the fire was achieved only around 12:30 am. No loss of life was reported in the incident, but pipes and other materials stored in the yard were damaged on a large scale. The company is estimating the amount of loss.
It is suspected that an electrical short circuit sparked the fire in the storage yard around 9 pm. By 9:30 pm, the fire control room of Pindra area reached the storage yard, where medium-density polyethylene pipes and steel material were stored in huge quantities.
Wind Direction Prevents Spread to Factories
Chief Fire Officer Rajput noted that the nature of the fire was extremely intense. He added that had the flames reached the CNG station, a major accident could have occurred. Rajput, who led his team of firefighters, worked hard to prevent the fire from advancing towards the CNG station and confined it to a controlled area. Due to the westward direction of the wind, the fire did not reach the Agro Park, and several factories were saved from coming under its grip.
The incident caused panic in the surrounding area. In view of safety, one lane of the Varanasi-Jaunpur Highway was temporarily closed. SDM Pindra Pratibha Mishra, Tehsildar Kulwant Singh, Naib Tehsildar Radheshyam Yadav, ACP Prashant Singh, and Pindra inspector Rajiv Kumar Singh camped near the incident site until the situation was controlled.
