Bangladesh armed forces join firefighters to control Sitakunda warehouse fire
The members of Bangladesh armed forces have joined the Fire Service in fighting the fire at Unitex Group's cotton warehouse in Chattogram's Choto Kumira area.
Eighteen units including eight from Fire Service, four each from Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Navy, and two from Bangladesh Air Force are working to douse the fire which broke out around 10.30am on Saturday.
Apart from the armed forces, four fire fighting units of Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) are working to control the fire, Towhidul Islam, NDC, Chattogram district administration told The Business Standard.
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Also, the rescue team of Bangladesh Army – USAR (Unit Search and Rescue Team) has arrived at the scene.
Meanwhile, a committee headed by the deputy director of the local government department has been formed to investigate the incident. The committee has been asked to report within 5 days.
"No casualties have been reported by far. However, the fire has been spreading to adjacent infrastructures," said Mohammad Obaidul, duty officer of Ctg Fire Service and Civil Defence control room operator.
Earlier, upon receiving the information, two units of firefighters from Sitakunda and Kumira fire stations reached the spot.
The fire has spread to several nearby shops. The neighbouring Nemsan container depot stocked with import and export products is also at risk.
The heat of the fire is felt several kilometres away from the scene triggering locals to move to safe places.
Local Union Parishad member Mohammad Sahab Uddin told TBS, "We heard that the fire started from a spark while welding in the warehouse. Residents are helping the fire service to bring it under control."
It has come to light that Lokman Hossain, the owner of SL Sheep Breaking Yard of Sitakunda, is the owner of the warehouse standing on 1.9 acres of land in Choto Kumira.
He leased the warehouse to Unitex Group a few years ago. Since then, the Unitex Group has been using the warehouse to store cotton for their spinning mills. Tonnes of cotton were piled there by trucks every day.
On 4 March, seven people were killed and some 30 were injured in a massive explosion at the Seema Oxygen Plant in the Kadamarsul area of Sitakunda.
Nurul Alam Dulal, senior station officer of Sitakunda Fire Service, told TBS, "Initially we were faced with a temporary water shortage which made it difficult for us to bring the fire under control. Later, we sourced water from Nemsan Container depot and two nearby ponds.
"We are trying to surround the fire by sprinkling water from all sides so that the fire can not spread. However, it is not unknown how long the fire will take to come under control," he said noting that the water sources will last two hours max.
