CNG truck carrying foam catches fire in Ludhiana; loud blast, fireball sparks panic among residents

LUDHIANA: Panic gripped Ghati Mohalla in Sunder Nagar on Sunday morning after residents woke up to loud blast noises. As soon as residents came out, they witnessed a CNG truck turned into a fireball, with flames all around.The truck was full of foam, which is used for filling mattresses. As foam is highly flammable, the truck caught fire suddenly. The fire brigade was informed about the incident and reacted immediately to control the situation. The truck driver had a narrow escape and managed to move out before the fire spread.People who were out for a morning walk raised the alarm as soon as they witnessed the burning truck. People gathered there in large numbers and waited for the fire brigade to come and control the fire. The Sunder Nagar fire station is nearby, so it took 4-5 minutes for the fire tenders to reach there.According to a fireman from Sunder Nagar fire station, Ravinderjit Singh said, “We received a fire call at around 6.14 am about this incident, and when we reached, there was fire all around. We doused the flames with the help of fire tenders.” He shared that electricity wires pass through the area, and they suspected the truck caught fire from a short circuit in the wires. He claimed that nearby residents also complained that, due to a sudden short circuit, AC compressors and some other electrical appliances were burnt. He claimed that they controlled the fire in almost half an hour, and 2 fire tenders were used to control the fire, but the truck was completely damaged in the fire.Nearby residents complained that there are hanging wires in the area, and these are very low as well. On other days, several incidents happened where sparking took place in the wires. The residents rued that there is a hosiery area around, and if the truck fire spread to nearby shops, then it would have been a major tragedy. The driver of the truck managed to come out in time.