A major fire broke out at the Laminatetis plywood factory in the Tapovan area of Nashik city just after midnight on Thursday (17th), around 12:15 am. The blaze raged for more than 22 hours, and even by 10 pm on Friday (18th), the fire was still not completely under control.
As many as 170 rounds were made by 16 fire engines, with 10 vehicles still deployed at the spot till late Friday evening. Due to the intense heat, plywood buried deep inside the factory kept reigniting, causing smoke and small fires to flare up repeatedly. Officials stated that the damage assessment (panchnama) will begin only after the fire is fully extinguished.
The exact cause of the fire is still unknown. Initially, 10 fire engines rushed to the scene. Reinforcements from Nashik Municipal Corporation, Pimpalgaon Baswant, Chandwad, Sinnar, Ambad MIDC, Sinnar MIDC, and even the Central Industrial Security Force joined the operation.
In a separate incident the same day, another fire broke out around 6:30 pm at a furniture mall on Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Road, near Panchvati Tapovan. The fire quickly engulfed the entire shop, destroying all furniture and goods. The estimated loss is around Rs 60 lakh.
Local resident Milind Mali noticed smoke coming from behind the mall and immediately alerted the shop owner, Dholu. Mali and another resident, Sandeep Suryavanshi, then called the fire brigade.
With local wells drying up, firefighters were forced to draw water from the riverbed to continue the operation.
Firefighting efforts are still underway. Fortunately, no casualties have been reported so far.