Fire breaks out in private paper and cardboard making unit near Tirunelveli

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Firefighters douse the flames after a fire broke out at a paper company in Kallur near Tirunelveli. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A massive fire broke out at a private paper and cardboard-making unit at Kallur near Tirunelveli on Wednesday.

As the fire broke out around 2.30 p.m. in imported waste paper blocks, the raw material for paper and cardboard, the entire yard was immediately enveloped in black smoke. With strong westerly winds in the open yard where the waste paper blocks had been stocked, the fire spread rapidly.

Since the waste paper and discarded cardboard had been compressed into blocks, five fire tenders from the Palayamkottai, Pettai and Cheranmahadevi fire stations, with 40 firefighters, had to work hard to douse the flames. The water being sprayed on the burning blocks could not penetrate deep into them.

Though the fire on the surface of the hundreds of blocks was put out immediately when water was sprayed, the fire deep inside the blocks resurfaced within a few minutes, making things tougher for the firefighters. Hence, the firefighting exercise continued even after 8 p.m.

“It will take another 12 hours even though we had stopped the spreading of fire to the waste paper blocks in another area on this campus,” said the firefighters.

Consequent to the fire, the surrounding areas, including Kondanagaram and Kallur, were enveloped in thick smoke emanating from the burning paper blocks.

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