Kochi: It could have been a huge tragedy at Kalamassery if there was no timely intervention of people and fire and rescue officials after a fire was detected on a mini lorry carrying cooking gas cylinders near Premier Junction here on Saturday morning.
According to witnesses, it was one Abdul Salam, a mini-truck driver who was passing through the National Highway, who stopped his vehicle after seeing smoke rising from the truck and tried to douse the fire with a fire extinguisher kept on tanker truck nearby.
The incident happened around 10.30 a.m. The lorry was carrying more than 60 filled cooking gas cylinders for distribution in households.
Meanwhile, on an alert, a fire force unit from Eloor fire station rushed to the spot within minutes and sprayed dry chemical powder to put out the fire.The reason behind the fire is not officially confirmed. However, officials suspect that it was caused by a fuel leakage on to the hot silencer following a rupture in the line from the tank leading to fuel pump.
Fire units from Gandhi Nagar and Thrikkakara fire stations had also reached the spot. "The fire was detected at the same spot where a mock drill to deal with a potential tanker disaster was held a few months back," an official said.The cylinders and the mini lorry were shifted from the spot shortly after the incident.
The officials cooled the cylinders for almost 30 minutes to avert any potential explosion as it was exposed to the heat.
Jude Thadeus, Station Officer, Eloor fire station along with assistant station officer K. Vinod, leading fireman V.K. Surendran, fireman V.A. Prajosh, fireman-cum-driver Manoharan, and fireman Akhil was in the team.
