Ahmedabad: Major fire at wax unit near Santej, 18 tenders deployed

Ahmedabad: A massive fire broke out at a wax manufacturing unit near Santej in Kalol on Friday evening, causing panic in the industrial belt and prompting authorities to declare a “major call” as flames continued to blaze for several hours. The fire occurred at Faith Industries, a unit engaged in wax production, and thick black smoke rising from the premises was visible from several kilometres away.

Officials said nearly 20 workers were present during the day shift, while around 15 employees usually worked in the night shift. The exact cause of the fire is not yet known and will be determined after a detailed probe. No fatalities were reported in the incident.

Fire officials said the blaze spread quickly due to the large amount of wax stored inside the unit, making firefighting efforts extremely difficult. Teams from Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Kalol and Kadi rushed to the site and initiated a large-scale operation to control the flames.

According to Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) chief fire officer Amit Dongre, seven fire tenders from AFES were deployed along with one vehicle each from Sanand municipality, Dholka, IFFCO, ONGC, Arvind Mills and Kalol municipality. In total, nearly 18 firefighting vehicles, including foam tenders and water tankers, were pressed into service.

Officials said the fire was brought under control by late Friday evening, though cooling operations continued to prevent any flare-ups. Firefighters faced challenges due to the highly combustible nature of wax and rising temperatures inside the factory premises. Water and foam tankers were deployed continuously in rotation to douse the flames.

Santej police cordoned off the area and stopped people from gathering near the site as a precaution. Kalol mamlatdar officials also reached the spot to monitor the situation.

A police officer said the fire broke out between 4.30pm and 5pm. Two workers suffered minor burn injuries, while another person sustained minor injuries during the chaos that followed the incident. All three were stated to be out of danger.