KRISHNAGIRI: Paracoat Products, a private company in Hosur’s SIPCOT industrial estate that manufactures rubber mats and other spare parts for vehicles, suffered a loss of around Rs 50 crore in a fire that broke out on Tuesday evening, Krishnagiri superintendent of police G S Anitha said on Wednesday.The blaze that broke out in the storage section of the factory around 7pm raged for nearly ten hours before fire and rescue services personnel brought it under control at 5am on Wednesday.“More than seven fire tenders, water tankers and tractors from Hosur, Rayakottai and Denkanikottai were deployed to battle the flames,” said a fire and rescue services department officer.District collector C Dinesh Kumar and the SP told reporters after visiting the site that more than 150 employees were present on the premises when the fire broke out. The workers managed to escape unharmed. The collector said rubber and chemical-based materials fuelled the flames, making it extremely difficult to contain. “Fire fighters had to continuously pump water for hours. It was one of the toughest operations they have handled in recent times” he said. Preliminary investigations suggested the fire may have been triggered by an electrical short circuit. “But we are investigating whether negligence or technical faults led to the incident,” the SP said.
