Fire breaks out at Bauria Jute Mill

A fire broke out at Bauria Jute Mill in Howrah on Sunday afternoon. The blaze spread over a huge area of the factory, especially in the store section, where jute materials were stocked.

Four fire tenders fought the flame which was first spotted by the employees of the jute mill. The fire fighters brought the situation under control after three hours. Initially the firemen faced difficulties to reach to the source of the fire as the area was covered by thick smoke.

Tension ran high in the locality following the incident. At around 2 pm, the employees of the jute mill spotted smoke billowing out of the room and informed the fire brigade. People got scared ad started running from one place to another. Panic stricken local residents also rushed to a safer place. Some of the mill employees tried to extinguish the fire by the fire fighting system installed inside the jute mill but the fire soon spread in the area. Some of the mill employees alleged that the fire tenders took a long time to reach the spot. The allegation was, however, denied by the fire department officials saying that the fire tenders were pressed into action on a war footing.

The fire, which was suspected to have been caused by short circuit, partly affected traffic in nearby area. There was no casualty or injury, the officials said. However, this incident is a grim reminder of major fire breaks out in one of the jute mills in Howrah district few months ago. 

The cause of the fire is still not clear. The labourers of the mill alleged that the mill, which was running when the fire broke out, had huge amount of explosive substances stored inside the mill. The fire officials suspect that there was no adequate fire safety arrangement in the jute mill. The fire brigade and police are yet to ascertain the exact cause of the fire and the extent of the damage.

A short circuit might have caused the fire. A probe will be conducted to ascertain the cause of the fire, a fire brigade officer has said.