Mangalore, Jan 11: The production facility of Primacy Industries Limited, one of the largest manufacturers of premium scented designer candles in the world, on the outskirts of the city, was gutted in a major fire on Thursday night.
Plumes of black smoke continued to pour out of the factory located adjacent to the residential area of Angaragundi in Baikampady Industrial Area on Friday morning too as firefighters continued to battle the blaze. However, barring minor injury to a staff there have been no casualties in the incident.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Even though hundreds of laborers work in this factory, due to the cancellation of night shifts, there were only a few workers when the mishap occurred.
According to local sources, the fire in the production facility was first noticed by a security guard in the three-storey building, at around 10.45 pm on Thursday. He quickly informed the authorities concerned and fire tenders were pressed into service.
However, more than 12 fire tenders could not extinguish the fire even after 12 hours of near continuous operation. Fire tenders from Pandeshwar, Kadri, Moodbidri, Karkala, Bantwal, Puttur, Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd, New Mangalore Port Trust, Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd and from Udupi were pressed into service. As the factory had cancelled night shifts recently, only a few workers were present in the factory at the time of the mishap.
Chief Fire Officer Varadarajan who reached the site of the accident an hour after it was noticed by locals who were attending a festivity at Angaragundi, said that they were informed late and they reached the spot by 11.30 pm.
Noticing the extent of damage in the facilities spread over a production area of 1.50 lakh sq ft, he said that it was not possible for fire to spread so rapidly at all corners of the facility. The fire usually spreads from one side or where it originates. In this case the intensity of fire all around the facility was the same,” he said.
He said 14 fire tenders had been fighting fire ever since it broke out. “As a large quantity of wax is stored, it is very difficult to extinguish the fire as it keeps burning,” he said and added that they had decided to wait till the wax melted away completely.
“However, we will take precautionary measures so that the fire does not spread to neighbouring buildings,” he said and added that the 24 LPG?cylinders stored in the basement had been shifted to safety amid the blazes.
As the news of the mishap spread, a large number of workers gathered at the factory. They were a worried lot as they watched their factory, which employed more than a 1,000 workers, turn to ashes.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, Primacy Industries Limited chairman V?K?Talithaya said the accident had caused an estimated loss of Rs 50 crore.
“The cause of mishap will be known only after an investigation by officials,” he said and added that steps would be taken to re-build the factory at the earliest and employees would not be put to hardship.
He said that there were only 16 employees inside the factory when the fire mishap noticed.
Though the firm operates from Mangalore, it caters to some of the biggest stores in the US, Europe and the Middle East, including Wal-Mart, Dillards, Target, Tesco, Dollar Store, Michaels, Home Centre, Home Retail Group, Candle Artisan and others.
For Indian customers, the candles are sold under the brand name 'Ekam.'
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