According to fire service officers, “Twenty fire tenders were pressed into service to control the blaze, which began around 10.30 am at Rachna Industries on the Radhanath Chowdhury Lane in Entally.”

Even as the fire tenders battled the blaze, local residents threw buckets of water from nearby rooftops.

Fire officials said the fire had to be extinguished due to the presence of nearby factories and residences that are engaged in the same trade of inflammable substances.

This was the third instance at the factory and the ninth since January in Tangra, said a fire official.

“There was so much combustible material inside the factory that in the beginning there was no sign of the fire letting up. To add to this, there was acute water shortage and no firefighting infrastructure at the factory,” fire officials said.

On being informed of the fire, factory proprietor Sunil Kankaria fell ill and was taken to a private nursing home.