Major fire engulfs hosiery, ice cream factories in Kolkata outskirts

Kolkata, July 12 (IANS) A devastating fire on Friday morning engulfed a hosiery and an ice cream factory at Jessore Road in the northern outskirts of Kolkata.Local people said the fire was first spotted quite early in the morning and later engulfed both factories which were adjacent to each other.Since inflammable items were stored in the factories as well as the warehouse attached to the ice cream factory, it took no time for the fire to take an alarming shape.Initially, 20 fire tenders rushed to the spot and started operations to bring the fire under control. However, soon after five more fire tenders joined them.The local people had complained to the media persons that although the fire services department was informed as soon as the fire was spotted there was a delay in the arrival of the fire tenders that allowed the fire to spread further.A fire services department official present at the spot said that the first thing they did was to prevent the fire from spreading to an adjacent high-rise building. “Those who were working the night shift first spotted the fire and all of them evacuated the factory premises immediately. There is no report of casualty as yet. Our prime task now is to bring the fire under control,” he said.The chairman of Dum Dum Municipality Harendra Singh immediately rushed to the spot. He said that the impact of the fire could have been even more alarming had the fire spread to the adjacent high-rise building or a college adjacent to the factories.“However, that could be prevented. Slowly the fire is coming under control,” he added.–IANSsrc/dpb