A quiet Sunday morning was violently shattered across Wardhaman Nagar when a huge wall of orange flames tore through a cluster of commercial warehouses near Prabhu Steel Chowk in Bagadganj. Within minutes, colossal plumes of black smoke were billowing from the workshops which was visible from very long distance across East Nagpur’s skyline, turning the morning sun into an eerie, soot-choked silhouette.

 

The sharp pops of exploding conduits, the groans of tin roofing buckling under searing heat, and the stench of melting polymers forced onlookers back. People present during the incident reported feeling dizzy from the smoke and smell while attempting to approach the fire. The emergency alert flashed at 7.36 am, initial tenders from Lakadganj and Kalamna Fire Brigade Station were rushed to the spot and reached within four minutes. Sizing up the disaster, Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Rajendra Uchake mobilised reinforcements from Sakkardara, Ganjipeth, Cotton Market, Narendra Nagar, Wathoda, and Civil Lines.

 

The fire fighters fought the flames for four consecutive hours before managing to douse it off at around 11.30 am. “Though fire department brought the major blaze under control after four hours of operation, the cooling operations continued with two fire tenders until Sunday night,” said CFO Uchake. “Because collapsed tin roofing sheets covered burning stocks, water couldn’t reach deep inside. Fire department deployed additional JCBs and fire tenders to remove debris and doused smoldering pockets completely by midnight,” Uchake added. The inferno ripped through seven adjacent godowns across the premises of M/s Prabhu Steel. Units 1, 2, and 3, storing plastic bags owned by Yogesh Sundardas, were reduced to molten slag, causing an Rs 80 lakh devastation. Next door, Jai Maharashtra Transport suffered a staggering blow of Rs 2 crore as carpets, catering goods, and electronics were incinerated.

 

Flames swallowed Agra Transport Services, turning 500 cartons of footwear and garments worth Rs 50 lakh to ash. At Saibaba Roadways, three pickup trucks and an auto-rickshaw were charred alongside cloth bundles valued at Rs 26 lakh, while Capital Transport Company lost Rs 1.25 crore in brass idols and hardware fixtures. Braving suffocating fumes, firefighters mounted an counterattack that successfully salvaged property worth Rs 1.50 crore. Total estimated losses as per owners claims stands at Rs 4.81 crore currently. Lakadganj Police Station have registered the incident report, while the exact cause of fire remains unknown.