Dahej/Surat: A massive fire broke out at a chemical factory in Dahej early Tuesday morning, forcing evacuation of nearly 1 ,500 people from the adjacent Ambheta village.There were no casualties in the fire that broke out at Sterling Auxiliaries Pvt Ltd around 3.30am. As many as 18 fire fighters from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Vadodara, Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Dahej and Panoli were deployed to control the blaze till late evening.Panic spread in nearby villages as news of the fire spread and many even woke up from their sleep and fled their houses. Thick plumes of smoke billowing from the plant were seen from several kilometres away.A S Gandhi, deputy director, safety, health & environment, said, "There have been no deaths or injuries in the fire. The fire broke out in the material storage area of the plant. Various solvents including methanol ethylene oxide were stored there. Fire fighters and disaster management prevention centre team are trying hard to safeguard the ethylene oxide tanks as the chemical is explosive in nature."Sandip Sagale, collector of Bharuch, told TOI, "A team of NDRF and experts from Vadodara and Vapi have also been called to deal with the situation. We will investigate the incident in detail and no negligence will be tolerated."The neighbouring plants of Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals Ltd (GACL), Gujarat Fluoro Chemicals Ltd (GFL) were also operating on "safer" mode with minimum manpower. All trucks, tankers and vehicles on way to these companies have been asked to stop at a safe distance.Sanjay Chavda, sarpanch of Ambhetha, said, "As soon as I got to know about the fire, I rushed to the company's gate and then informed mamlatdar and police. A team of villagers was mobilized to ask people to leave their homes immediately. Almost 1,500 people were taken to safe locations at Suva, Lakhigam and Dahej. Vagra MLA Arunsinh Rana also reached the site at 4am and helped in evacuation."Sterling Auxiliaries manufactures surfactants, emulsifiers, fatty amine and its derivatives like alkanolamines, ethylene and propylene oxide condensates and other specialty chemicals.When contacted, Sanjay Chobe, head of human resource at Sterling Auxiliaries, said, "All people are busy in controlling the situation. We will revert back with further inputs."The company has a staff of 190 people, excluding contract labourers.

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