Jammu : Timely and swift action by the Fire and Emergency Services Department saved lives and property worth crores amid massive fire that broke out in a Cold Storage and Ice Factory here at Gole Pulley.
The incident of Fire was reported at around 17.45 hrs last evening and immediately Two Stations FES Canal and FES Gandhinagar responded.
The firemen bravely evacuated people to safety, controlled the leaping fire flames and prevented the situation from going out of hand by preventing leakage of hazardous Ammonia gas.
It took Hours to restore the situation and the operation was called off after hectic efforts of the Fire and Emergency Services Department.
More fire tenders from FES City and FES Gandhinagar, Roopnagar and Gangyal were deputed under the supervision of Kanwal Peshin I/c DFO City who was assisted by Mohammad Jaffer Sheikh Station Officer FES Gandhinagar. Fire was brought under control swiftly and suddenly it was found that ammonia gas was leaking which could have proven disastrous as a dangerous health hazard.
Immediately BA sets were donned by the officers risking lives and tried to plug the knob. Both the officers found that the control Valve had busted and it was almost impossible to plug the leakage. Some minor injuries (cold burns)were reported by Mohammad Jaffer Sheikh Station officer and different alternate mechanisms were adopted by RK Raina DD Jammu who also reported at the scene of occurrence including water mixture with baking soda was sprayed.
In the meantime, the entire area full of residents was evacuated to safeguard lives in a professional manner. The operation continued all night.
Police administration, SDRF and NDRF teams also visited the spot to coordinate and assist in the operation but couldn’t control the gas leakage as the valve had been extensively damaged.
Fire and Emergency Services with the support of other agencies after continuous and efficient strategic efforts throughout the night by Firefighters controlled the gas leakage by emptying the tank and closed the operation Teams from the Medical Department provided much needed medical aid to all crews as the working in such an ammonia rich atmosphere created health issues as well many Firefighters collapsed during the operation.
The operation was successfully conducted under the supervision of RK Raina Deputy Director Fire and Emergency Services assisted by Kanwal Peshin i/c DFO City and Mohammad Jaffer Sheikh Station officer FES Gandhinagar, Alok Kumar IPS ADGP Director Fire and Emergency Services was monitoring the operation from Srinagar Kashmir with important inputs. He later appreciated the role of Firefighters for effective and efficient management to control the Fire and situation besides evacuation of people from the area. The operation was called off at 02 PM on 14.05.2024.
