Hyderabad: Major fire breaks out at scrap godown

Choutuppal: A major fire broke out in Choutuppal town center on Friday. Thick smoke billowed out from the godown owned by one Suresh from Choutuppal along with a few others. It was being run in an acre of land on the outskirts of the town.

Suresh, who also set up of Srini Pharma, runs it in the name of Om Sairam Scrap.

Scrap and old materials are being purchased from various industries in the mandal and surrounding areas. Purchased materials are segregated and stored separately. Plastic materials were stored in the back side of the godown. It is learnt that some farmers set on fire garbage in a cotton field located behind the warehouse. Around 12 o’clock in the afternoon, the embers of the fire fell into the warehouse, sparking a fire. Due to the plastic materials, the fire spread rapidly.

The manager, on noticing it, called in fire tenders which struggled and put out the fire. As the local fire engine was not enough, two more fire engines were brought from the surrounding mandals. A state-of-the-art fire engine was also procured from the local Divis pharma industry.

The owners said the fire burnt down a large extent of plastic materials in the accident, causing a loss of about Rs 20 lakh.

Meanwhile, as there are pharma companies and grain warehouses nearby, the locals were scared the fire would spread to them but breathed a sigh of relief as the fire was brought under control.

ACP Patolla Madusudhan Reddy, Tehsildar Harikrishna and CI Ashok Reddy rushed to the spot and oversaw the fire-fighting operation. The police registered a case and took up investigation.