Major fire engulfs cotton factory

MEERUT: A major fire broke out in a factory located in Amroha on Thursday. There were no casualties, however tonnes of cotton were engulfed in the fire.
Located in a secluded spot, the fire was spotted by the locals in the morning and two fire tenders were rushed to douse the fire.
Comprehending the magnitude of the fire a third fire tender was also called in from Moradabad.In all, three fire tenders carried out the fire fighting operation till Thursday afternoon.
According to the circle officer, Sheel Kumar, “The facility is spread over 2 bighas where packaging of cotton products is done. Due to reasons still unknown, a fire broke out in the premises and since it is a bit secluded area in the industrial zone, no one could give attention to it. By morning the entire premises had become a sort of raging inferno.”
Sub divisional magistrate (SDM) of Amroha, Mohammad Naeem, said, “It was a Herculean effort as the fire escalated rapidly due to the tonnes of cotton lying around. We had to use cranes to remove the cotton bundles in order to cut the continuity line.”
The owner of the unit, Shahnawaz Ahmad said, “Amroha has a huge cotton waste market. This waste is brought to our factory where a mechanism called ‘pressing’ is done to compress the cotton which is then used in various industries. Thus at any time of the day, huge quantities of cotton bundles can be found in the premises for pressing. I have no idea what caused the fire but it has destroyed everything.”