A serious hearth broke out in Chandigarh’s Sector 22 cell phone market on Wednesday afternoon, triggering panic in one of many metropolis’s most congested industrial zones. While no casualty has been reported to date, the blaze has brought about intensive harm to property and continues to pose a problem to emergency providers.
The hearth reportedly originated on the primary flooring of ‘Ad’s Mobile’ and quickly engulfed neighbouring outlets, hearth division officers mentioned.
Given that the market is a main hub for electronics, the presence of AC compressors, lithium-ion batteries, and numerous flamable chemical compounds saved throughout the outlets fuelled the depth of the blaze.
Five hearth tenders had been instantly pressed into service, although firefighters are presently struggling to deliver the state of affairs underneath management as a result of dense smoke and the risky nature of the saved materials.
Located reverse the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) in Sector 17, the Sector 22 cellular market is one among Chandigarh’s oldest and busiest retail landmarks, housing over 100 outlets devoted to cellular telephony and equipment. Its proximity to the bus stand and its excessive footfall resulted in fast chaos as the hearth unfold.
Chandigarh Police had a tricky time cordoning off the realm. A crowd of onlookers and store house owners gathered on the web site, hampering the motion of emergency automobiles. Officers are working to evacuate the fast periphery to forestall additional danger, particularly as the specter of cylinder explosions persists.
This incident echoes long-standing considerations concerning hearth security protocols and slender entry factors within the metropolis’s older deliberate markets, the place high-density storage typically outweighs the capability of current fire-fighting infrastructure.
Past blazes in Sector 22 market
April 2025: A serious hearth broke out on the primary flooring of a showroom complicated housing medical provides and places of work. While no accidents occurred, staff had been trapped on the higher flooring and needed to be rescued utilizing ladders after breaking windowpanes to flee the thick smoke.
September 2019: A late-night hearth erupted in a multi-storeyed constructing (SCO 1072) reverse the ISBT. It began on the primary flooring, the place toys and clothes had been offered, and unfold to the second flooring. Firefighters needed to break by means of unlawful iron hoardings and encroachments to entry the constructing.
June 2018: A fireplace gutted the basement of a toy store within the early hours of the morning. It took seven hearth tenders to douse the flames, however the dense smoke from burning plastic toys and electronics meant normalcy wasn’t restored for over 10 hours.
February 2018: Panic unfold by means of the cellular market when a hearth broke out in a photograph mixing lab on the second flooring of an SCF (shop-cum-flat). Five hearth tenders had been used to include the blaze, which destroyed gear value lakhs.
November 2015: A major hearth was reported particularly throughout the cellular market cluster, inflicting disruption to the neighboring outlets and heavy smoke throughout the Sector 22-C hall.
October 2010: Two places of work, together with a hearth security gear agency and a videography studio, had been gutted in a night-time hearth. Short-circuiting was recognized as the first trigger.
April 2009: One of probably the most tragic incidents out there’s historical past occurred when 4 individuals died of asphyxiation after a hearth broke out in a digital laboratory. The presence of extremely inflammable chemical compounds used within the lab made the hearth significantly deadly and troublesome to extinguish.
Recurring security considerations
In virtually each occasion, hearth division officers highlighted the identical systemic points:
Encroachments: Illegal hoardings and prolonged store shows incessantly block the passage for hearth tenders.
Haphazard parking: The proximity to ISBT-17 results in site visitors congestion, typically delaying emergency automobiles by essential minutes.
Lack of exits: Many older buildings in Sector 22 lack secondary hearth exits, leaving occupants to depend on breaking home windows for rescue.
