MARGAO
A raging fire engulfed the Sonsodo dry waste shed in the wee hours of Sunday, destroying two baling machines, costing lakhs of rupees and bringing to fore the susceptibility of the waste dumping site to fire incidents.
The incident triggered a debate over the fire incident, whether the raging fire was an accident or arson with questions raised by fire officials as well as by Margao Municipal officials over the suspicious nature of the fire.
The incident is believed to have started at around 2 am before it was noticed by security personnel manning the site. After receiving a call from the security that Sonsodo was on fire at 2 am, the Margao fire brigade rushed to the site, only to find the shed handling the dry waste on fire.
What raised suspicions over the fire was that when the fire personnel reached the spot, they found the shed under fire at two-three places, including the area around the balling machines.
The firefighting operations were complicated by the fact that the shed was filled with accumulated dry waste, and thick black smoke was billowing from the area.
Given the gravity of the situation, the Margao fire brigade immediately requisitioned the Verna fire brigade to assist in the fire fighting operations. Around 52,000 litres of water was used to contain the fire. In fact, it took around nine hours for the fire brigade to bring the fire under control at around 11 am.
Fire officer Gill D’Souza said the fire fighting operations was made difficult since the fire was deep seated and they had to use machinery to churn the garbage.
“It took the fire brigade around nine long hours to finally bring the fire under control. Two baling machines have been destroyed in the fire. We are told that each baling machine cost around Rs 4-5 lakhs”, he said.
