Coke oven plant of Durgapur Steel Plant catches fire

Kolkata: A fire took place at the coke oven plant of the Durgapur Steel Plant on Tuesday night.

Around nine fire tenders were pressed into action to douse the flames. They took more than seven hours to bring the situation under control. According to the police, the Naphtha scrubber first caught fire and then it spread to other portions of the plant. According to the preliminary investigation, the police and fire officials suspect that the broiler might have left heated after the hot job was done. The process of producing steel in the hot broiler is called hot job.

It was learnt that the employees have to be present beside the broiler till the cooling process is completed unless there is always a possibility of boiler catching fire due to excessive heat. According the local administration, there are certain procedures in working with the boiler. The procedure was not properly followed as a result of which the fire took place. Experts said that scrubber might have caught fire due to excessive heat. The fire soon spread one scrubber to the other, resulting in panic among the employees of the steel plant. The matter was immediately informed to the fire brigade. At least none fire tenders were swung into action. The firefighters initially tried to restrict fire from spreading further. The fire officials evacuated the entire area and brought the situation under control. The fire tenders finally extinguished the fire after seven hours. A detailed probe has been initiated in this regard to ascertain the exact cause of the fire.