The fire at Lalbagh plastic factory, on Wednesday, spread as plastic and polythene, which are combustible, and catch fire instantly, were lying scattered around the place, but it did not go out of control, said Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence’s Deputy Director Dilip Kumar Ghosh.
While discussing on the matter on Thursday, he told Dhaka Tribune that though many parts of the factory has been burnt, there were no casualties.
A committee has been formed on Thursday to investigate the reason behind the fire.
The three-member committee has been asked to submit its report within 15 working days, said Fire Service’s Warehouse Inspector Atiqul Alam,
Dilip Kumar Ghosh is the head of the committee, while the other members are: Assistant Director (AD) Abdul Halim, and Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) Newton Das.
Dilip Kumar Ghosh said: “We reached the spot immediately after getting the news. Our 15 units worked to extinguish the fire that started around 10:40pm. But no one dared to douse the fire before our arrival.”
“We started dousing the fire using our reserve water just after reaching the spot, we were also searching for more water source nearby, and we got it quickly. Local people also helped us a lot,” he added.
When asked about the loss and the reason behind the fire, DD Dilip said they were investigating the matter.
“We will start investigation from Thursday, as we have many programs on the occasion of National Mourning Day.”
How the fire started
Fire-fighters managed to douse a fire which broke out at a plastic factory in Lalbagh's Posta area in Old Dhaka late Wednesday.
15 fire-fighting units managed to douse the fire completely by around 4am on Thursday, Atikul Alam Chowdhury said.
"We have not received news of any casualties so far," he said, adding that the cause of the fire, and the extent of damage could not be ascertained yet.
Local people said the building is known as Tipu Haji's house. There are three large transformers in the building. The factory is located on the ground floor, while the warehouse is on the top floor.
They heard a sudden blast around 10:30pm, and a fire broke out in the warehouse immediately after that. “It might be from the transformer,” they suspected.
When contacted, Sohrab Hossain, officer-in-charge of Chawkbazar police station said: "We have deployed enough police force to keep everything under control. According to locals, the fire started from a transformer explosion. However, the fire service will be able to tell the exact cause of the fire."
"The factory workers are on Eid holidays, and that is why there were no casualties," he added.
