Fowler Associates Labs

JAIPUR: A major accident was averted when a fire broke out at Johar Brothers petrol pump, situated in the middle of a commercial and residential area, here on Friday. It was learnt that a tanker caught fire while refuelling. It could have destroyed homes and properties, had not the JMC fire fighters reached the spot on time and doused the fire in 45 minutes. Over a dozen fire tenders were pressed into service. Two of the fire fighters suffered minor injuries.

The police had a tough time controling the surging crowd, who demanded immediate closure of the pump since it is situated in such a densely populated area. The crowd allegedly manhandled the petrol pump owner. They Claimed that closure of the pump had been ordered by the home department in 1975, but nothing has been done so far by the UDH department. They put up a road block, forcing the police to chase them away. Talking to TOI, the fire officials said cause of the fire is still unknown. It may be recalled three people had lost people their lives in a similar incident, that happened at a petrol pump in Shashtri Nagar in October 2008.

Fire officer of Jaipur Municipal Corporation, Ishwar Lal Jaat said, “The area is thickly populated with houses are shops. Besides, there is a cinema hall on the left of the petrol pump. It is suspected the fire broke out while refueling the underground tanker from a HPCL carrier. It could have been human negligence or the heat which sparked the fire,” he added.

An HPCL officer said there was 12,000 litre of petrol in the tanker out of which 8,000 litre was transferred into the underground tank when the fire broke out. Eyewitnesses said there were four employees at the pump when the incident happened at 3.50 pm. They immediately fled. The residents allegedly manhandled some HPCL officials, who gone to the spot to make inquiries. The HPCL authorities said a three-member member team will probe the incident and submit a report in the next three/four days.