A major fire broke out at quick commerce company Zepto’s godown following a short-circuit in the cooling chamber (freezer) in Greater Noida West on Monday morning, said fire and rescue personnel, adding that the fire was controlled after four hours of continuous efforts.
“On Monday around 7am, the fire control room received an alert from a worker that a fire broke out at Zepto’s one-story godown in Sector 16B near Ek Murti under the jurisdiction of Bisrakh police station in Greater Noida West,” said Ajay Kumar, fire officer, Ecotech 3.
“Five fire tenders from surrounding fire stations were sent to the spot to control the fire. As the fire engulfed the entire godown, an earthmover was called in to break a wall of the godown,” he said.
“After three to four hours of effort, the fire was controlled completely. A preliminary probe revealed that around 6.45am, a short-circuit occurred inside the cooling chamber of the company’s godown,” said Kumar, adding that the short-circuit caused the plastic insulation sheets installed on the roof of the godown to catch fire.
Due to the plastic insulation sheet, the fire engulfed the entire godown, and firefighters encountered difficulty in controlling the flames as cooking oil and other grocery items also caught fire, said fire officials, adding that the actual damage caused by the blaze could not be immediately ascertained.
Godown owner Praveen Kumar said, “I suffered a loss of around ₹1-2 lakh, and Zepto was running its business from the godown through a third-party company called Commodum Groceries Private Limited. I am Commodum’s third-party vendor.”
Zepto’s response is awaited in the matter.
On June 22, a quick commerce company’s godown caught fire near Haibatpur Gaur City Mall in Greater Noida, but no one was injured in that fire.
In the last five months, from January to May, a total of 1,210 fire incidents were reported in the Gautam Budh Nagar district. Of these, 121 cases were reported in January, 136 in February, 182 in March, 366 in April, and 405 in April, according to the data compiled by the fire department.
