Fire at Kashimpur Carton Factory: Fight Grows from Two Units to Eight, No Casualties Reported

A fire has broken out at a carton factory in Kashimpur, Gazipur. The blaze started at around 10:30am on Saturday (24 October) at the Supreme Garments carton factory in the Shailan area under Kashimpur police station. A total of eight Fire Service units worked to bring the fire under control. No casualties have been reported in the incident.

The first responders were from the Kashimpur mini Fire Service station. Kashimpur Fire Service officer Ariful Islam said two units initially went to the scene and began fighting the fire. As the flames intensified, six more units from different stations were called in to join the effort.

According to officer Ariful Islam, the factory contained a large stock of empty cartons. That stockpile helped the fire spread quickly and grow in intensity. As a result, the two initial units could not contain it, and reinforcements had to be called.

In a factory packed with flammable material such as cartons and paper, a fire can grow large within moments — and the Fire Service's initial account suggests exactly that happened at Kashimpur. The officer himself said the stored empty cartons caused the fire's intensity to increase.

The relief is that despite such a large fire, no casualties have been reported so far. Neither the factory authorities nor the Fire Service have reported any worker injured or missing.

However, Kashimpur Fire Service officer Ariful Islam said the cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed. The origin can only be investigated properly once the fire is fully brought under control.

Gazipur is one of the country's main industrial belts; countless factories and supporting industries have grown up around the garment sector here, including packaging factories such as carton plants. A factory fire in such an industry-dense area spreads panic across the locality, although this incident caused no loss of life.

As news of the fire spread, curious onlookers gathered around the factory area. Eight Fire Service units sprayed water simultaneously to contain the blaze and stop it from spreading to any neighbouring structure.

No immediate estimate of the damage was available either. How much of the stored cartons and machinery inside the factory has been damaged will only be assessed once the fire is out.

Attention now turns to two questions — whether the fire has been fully controlled, and what caused it. Officials say the Fire Service investigation will clarify whether an electrical fault, carelessness or another cause was behind the blaze.