Fire at Munshiganj super board factory under control after 22 hours

Robotic firefighting machinery was used to tame the blaze, according to the Fire Service

The massive fire at the super board factory in the Shikirgaon area of Munshiganj’s Gajaria has finally been brought under control.

Md Jashim Uddin, deputy director of the Fire Service, said that the blaze had largely been brought under control around midnight on Sunday. However, it took until 11am on Monday – 22 hours since the fire sparked – for it to be brought under control properly. Firefighting efforts are still underway to extinguish it.

Robotic firefighting equipment had been used to help douse the flames, Jashim said.

The fire at the super board factory owned by the TK Group on the banks of the Meghna River in Munshiganj started on Sunday afternoon. Despite the efforts of 12 firefighting units and two vessels providing uninterrupted water supply, emergency workers were having difficulty subduing the fire.

Heavy rain began to fall on Sunday evening and uninterrupted water supply was available from the Meghna River nearby, said Jashim. A total of 147 members of the Fire Service took part in the operation.

Seven people have been injured while trying to tame the blaze. Three trawlers anchored nearby were burnt when the wind fanned the flames.

Excavators had been used to dump the boards inside the sheds and the sheds burnt by the fire, fire service official said.

He claimed the fire could not spread to nearby factories as it was contained to the large 75,000 square foot shed in the middle of the factory. Millions of taka worth of property was saved through the firefighting effort, he said.

“Initially, it is believed that the damages from the super board fire can amount to over Tk 150 million.”

It had taken five days to bring a fire at the same factory under control in 2013.

A five-member investigation committee, led by Additional Deputy Commissioner Md Masudul Alam, has been formed to investigate the fire that started at the factory 11 years later. The committee begins work on Monday and must submit a report within seven working days.