Surat: A fire broke out on the third floor of Adinath Textile Market here on Monday, prompting a swift response from the Surat Fire and Emergency Services. The fire occurred in the Ring Road area, a major textile trading hub, and caused heavy smoke inside the market premises.According to officials, the fire was reported around 10.45 am when a person from the fire-affected shop came to the nearby Man Darwaja fire station. Flames and smoke were visible in a shop on the third floor. A huge stock of textile material had been stored in the upper storage area of the double-height shop. Thick smoke was rising from the building. The firefighting operation involved over 15 vehicles from 10 fire stations and a team of 50 firefighting personnel. The fire was doused in three hours, but operations continued because of persistent smoke and the need for thorough cooling to prevent reignition.“Flames were coming out of the shop’s entry gate due to which the material in lobby also caught fire. There was no way for the smoke to vent, due to which firefighting was challenging,” a fire official said. To suppress the smoke, teams kept spraying water till the afternoon.The fire was contained to a single shop and did not spread to adjoining units in the market. The market has around 100 shops and a huge quantity of material is stored in it during the festive season.“It becomes difficult for fire teams to control fires in some of the city’s textile markets where stairs are narrow, there is not enough space for smoke to get out and flammable material in lobbies hinder firefighters,” said a fire officer.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Police and forensic science experts will investigate how the fire began. There were people in the shop but the cause of the fire is not yet known.
