According to witnesses, there was a huge ball of fire at 4.00 p.m. in the Savitri Petrochemicals factory, which dealt in Methanol, a petroleum product and a solvent for paints. The fire spread through the compound and the garments factory next to it within minutes.

Also gutted were two cars, a few cycles and large bundles of old cloth meant for resale. The factory was an unauthorised one with no fire safety equipment. The owner and the workers are absconding.

Opposite the factory is Sanjay Colony, whose residents have encroached on the roads and factory space, with large waste cloth bundles. The fire, the cause of which is unknown, broke out when a tanker was being filled from an underground tanker of solvent. The tanker was the first to catch fire. Soon the entire floor was gutted.

``On seeing the fire, we ran to the next building, pulled out a few computers, phones and cycles, but we could not save other things,'' said Amit, Sanjay Colony resident.

Harshankar Pathak, a contractor, said he had warned the factory owners a number of times against keeping inflammable substances without adequate protection. ``We have been going to the authorities for the past 4-5 years,'' he said.

The fire tenders arrived 45 minutes after the first call was made. Incidently, Okhla industrial area does not have a fire service of its own. SDM, Kalkaji, A. Nedunch-ezhiyan, present at the site, said: ``It has happened here today. It can happen to our factory tomorrow. We need to think of some way to stop this encroachment,'' said Babar, a factory owner.

The SDM said: ``Everyday we conduct power raids but the next day, they are back to making hooks with wire for electricity,'' he said. He stressed on the need of more interaction between authorities and the residents' welfare association.

The loss incurred by the garment factory was yet to be ascertained, as the owner, Sharad Rathi, was still trying to recover whatever he could from his premises, large parts of which were still on fire.