Property worth Rs 200 crore gutted in Spacewood fire

 

 

 

WOODEN furniture and raw material collectively worth more than Rs 200 crore was reduced to ashes in a major fire that broke out at Spacewood Furnishers Pvt Ltd in MIDC Hingna area, on Tuesday evening. Such was the intensity of blaze that in spite of more than 12 tenders being pressed into service the flames were leaping high and could be seen from nearly a kilometre’s distance. All available fire tenders from nearby areas were requisitioned to control the blaze. Fortunately, no loss of life was reported in the incident. Chief Fire Officer of Nagpur Municipal Corporation Rajendra Uchke informed ‘The Hitavada’ that a call was received regarding necessity of fire tenders to help douse a big fire at 4.26 pm.

 

A company official said that the fire started from the paint shop at the company in MIDC Estate, Hingna Road. Presence of inflammable material only helped the flames to spread quite fast and a nearby godown stocked with furniture and other material and manufacturing units was engulfed within a few minutes. Around 500 employees were present in the company when the fire broke out. “All employees were rescued,” the official said and claimed that material worth more than Rs 200 crore was gutted. Within matter of minutes the fire assumed devastating proportions and engulfed the huge premises of the company.

 

Presence of wood material, chemicals and wooden polish only aggravated the matter and spraying water only did not help in bringing the flames under control. Six fire tenders of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) were dispatched to the spot as the flames were getting out of control. Fire tenders from Wadi, Butibori, Ordnance Factory and Kalmeshwar were also rushed to the spot to avoid a major catastrophe. Firefighters were busy trying to halt spread of the flames. The company is owned by Kirit Joshi and Vivek Deshpande. The fire fighting operation continued till late in the night. CFO Uchke said that all employees of the company were safely rescued. “The reason behind the fire will be investigated once the fire comes under complete control,” he added.