Major fire destroys two factories in industrial estate in Ernakulam; No casualty

A massive fire destroyed two factoriesmanufacturing spirit-based products such as thinner and polishat an industrial estate near here, officials said on Sunday.

None was injured in the blaze that broke out aroundmidnight on Saturday and raged on before the Fire and Rescuepersonnel from 25 stations in Ernakulam and nearby districtsdoused it around 5 AM on Sunday, they said.

There were no workers at the time of the mishap as theunits do not have night shifts.

One more adjacent unit in the Edayar Industrial Estate inErnakulam district was partially damaged in the fire, said tohave been caused by lightning.

A Fire and Rescue service officer said a major blast wasaverted due to the efforts of the nearly 100 personnel as ahuge volume of an inflammable raw material was stored in theunderground of one of the factories.

A major explosion would have occurred had the raw materialcaught fire, Station Officer of nearby Eloor Fire and Rescuestation T B Ramakrishnan told PTI.

Fire and Rescue personnel from 25 stations in Ernakulam,Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kottayam districts fought the infernoand brought it under control around 3.30 AM, officials said,adding the extent of damage was severe and the loss was beingestimated.

The fire was first reported from one of the factories at11.54 pm and his team rushed to the spot within minutes,Ramakrishnan said.

More teams of personnel in 30 vehicles were rushed to thespot after being informed about the severest nature of thefire, he said.

The blaze was finally doused around 5 AM.