Goregaon Godown Fire: 13-Hour Battle Ends, Oil Barrels Suspected Cause Of Blaze

Mumbai: The massive fire which broke out in a godown at Goregaon West was doused after firefighting operations for 13 hours on Thursday morning. In a preliminary investigation, it was observed that a stock of oil barrels in the godown was the reason behind the widespread fire.

However, an exact cause and the type of oil will be ascertained after a detailed investigation, said a fire official.

Details On The Fire Incident

The fire erupted in a godown on the ground floor at around 8pm on Wednesday. The fire was declared as level 3 (major fire) by the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) within an hour. It was confined to coal tar, fevicol, chemicals, scrap material, plywood, electric wiring, electric installation, bamboo scaffolding, and spilt chemicals on the ground-floored chawl structure. Nasim Khan, 25, sustained 10-15% burn injuries and was admitted to the Trauma Care Centre at Jogeshwari East. However, the Mrunaltai Gore bridge was closed to traffic for 3-4 hours due to dense smoke, said the fire officials.

A senior fire official said, “The godown had a stock of 30-35 oil barrels that spread the fire in a short time. In a preliminary investigation, we got to know that oil is used for repairing vehicles. We observed that the flames spread and formed fireballs whenever oil spills from the barrel. We had to close the vehicular traffic on the Mrunaltai Gore flyover till the flames were brought under control. We were on the spot till the last flame was extinguished by 9am on Thursday. The civic staff of P South ward had cleared the oil barrels and dumped them in the godown at Chembur. The exact cause behind the fire is being investigated.”