Ludhiana: A major fire broke out at a garment manufacturing unit in Sunder Nagar on Tuesday morning, gutting a large stock of jackets stored on the first and second floors before fire teams brought the blaze under control after a four-hour operation. No casualties were reported.The unit owner was using the premises exclusively as a warehouse for finished products, while his main manufacturing facility is located elsewhere.The incident occurred between 7.30am and 8am when onlookers noticed smoke, raised an alarm, and informed the unit owner. The owner rushed to the spot and opened the front door, while local residents alerted the fire department.Fire officials said the ground and third floors were saved, but firefighters faced significant delays initially due to dense black smoke, locked upper floors, and waiting for the electricity department to cut power supply to the building.Leading fireman Rajinder Kumar said they had to break open upper-floor doors and windows to vent the heavy smoke before making entry. Fire tenders from the Sunder Nagar fire station made 10 to 15 rounds to supply water during the intense three-hour firefighting effort.Officials noted that because the fire broke out early in the morning, firefighters avoided the severe traffic congestion typical of the mixed residential-industrial area during peak daytime hours, which often hampers emergency response times.
