The fire broke out at the BM container depot in Sitakunda due to lack of information about the contents of the container, the fire service said. Referring to the negligence of the authorities, the fire service said, “The authorities did not immediately provide any information about the contents of the container after the fire broke out. That is why the intensity spreads more when the fire is brought under control.”
The fire service said in a statement that, “There are trained personnel to deal with the type of fire. However, in most cases, the owner of the building or the person involved in the firefighting operation could not be reached for comment.”
The fire service says there are more than 300 skilled trained personnel in chemical firefighting alone. There are different chemicals to put out such fires.
Dinmani Sharma, deputy director of the Dhaka division of the Fire Service and Civil Defense, told the media, “Special equipment has to be used for chemicals. Even in the case of old Dhaka, we did not initially understand what kind of combustible material was there. We were not informed. If there is a chemical fire, it has to be considered.”