A fire broke out due to a short circuit in the machinery department at Ahmedabad’s Space Applications Centre on the afternoon of May 3, the city’s fire department said. A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) guard was injured in the fire. A senior fire department officer, however, said no one was injured in the incident.
At least 25 fire trucks and 10 ambulances have arrived at the facility. Ahmedabad district collector Vikrant Pandey, who reached the facility immediately on hearing about the fire, said the research centre building which was vacant at the time was completely engulfed by flames.
The Space Applications Centre (SAC) is a major research and development centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is spread across two campuses having multi-disciplinary activities.
“A major fire broke out at the research centre inside the sprawling SAC campus on the city’s outskirts this afternoon,” an Ahmedabad fire department officer said. After being alerted about the fire, additional chief fire officer Rajesh Bhatt and other senior officers rushed to the spot.
Mr Bhatt said it will take some more hours to douse the flames completely.