Fire breaks out at plastic factory in Kheda, 8 fire tenders on spot

Fire officials said the fire broke out due to short circuit.

Kheda:A massive fire broke out at a plastic factory near Goblej in Gujarat's Kheda district early this morning, fire officials said. Eight fire tenders were pressed into service after receiving information about the fire. No casualties have been reported so far, officials added.

The incident took place at Formosa Synthetics Pvt Ltd on Kheda Ahmedabad Highway towards Ahmedabad. Local people said they could see smoke billowing out from the factory even five kilometres away from the site. After hearing about the fire, a huge crowd gathered at the spot. Initially, locals tried to extinguish the fire themselves but continued spreading fast because of plastic.

Officials said fire tenders were brought from Ahmedabad apart from Kheda district to douse the flames. A total of eight fire tenders were deployed from Nadiad, Bareja, Aslani, Dholka and Ahmedabad. The work to douse the fire is still underway and it may take around three to four hours, fire officials added.

When the firemen were spraying water, they found huge stocks of plastic in the form of polythene and rolls. Everything that was stored in the factory has been completely burnt, firemen said. The cause of the fire is not clear but it is suspected that the fire broke out due to short circuit, fire officials said. However, there is no information about the quantity of plastic that was stored and how the short circuit occurred, they said. So far, no deaths or injuries have been reported, they added.

In a similar incident, a massive fire broke out at a landfill site in Kannur's Chelora in the wee hours yesterday. The fire was brought under control within an hour. The entire site spanned over 20 acres, on which waste was dumped on six acres.