A fire broke out in an underground magazine store of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Chandipur near here on early Monday morning, triggering a string of explosions.
It was believed the incident took place between 3 am and 3.30 am. PXE Director R Appavuraj informed that the incident would be probed by a team of from the DRDO headquarters.
A source said the cause of fire could be excessive heat generated in the room.
Appavuraj said, “The materials (propellants) stored in the block were gutted. There is a remote possibility of electric fire or any other kind of fire spreading from outside to inside the room.”
“The fire triggered explosions as it erupted in the magazine store of the Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE), where shells and ammunition of different capacities and sizes are stored for test,” Officer in-Charge of Chandipur police station PK Acharya said.
No casualty was reported so far, and over a dozen fire tenders were pressed into service for about four hours to control the blaze, he said, adding that the entire complex was sealed.
Officials of the PXE, one of the oldest DRDO units, which is located near the premier missile trial centre, the Integrated Test Range (ITR), were tightlipped about the cause of the incident of fire but said immediate steps were taken to contain the fire and prevent its spread.
“The fire was restricted to the underground magazine store and no other facility inside the PXE complex was affected due to the incident,” they said.
It may be recalled that a fatal accident had taken place at the complex on November 4, 2009 after a cannon went off accidentally during a test resulting in the death of a gunner and serious injuries to three others.
Within the last 10 years, three fire incidents were reported from the PXE, the latest one believed to be major.
This unit, among 52 labs of the DRDO, has been carrying out proof testing of Arjun ammunition, T-72 ammunition, 150 mm ERFB ammunition and 155 mm and 130 mm high explosives, etc.
With the beginning of testing of 12-pound Sharpnel from this Chandipur range since 119 years ago and having certification ‘the range both inward and seaward leaves nothing to be desired by one then British officer’, the PXE has now been transformed as a world-class dynamic test and evaluation centre of armament stores.
The future plans are modernisation and expansion of the range facilities, indigenous development of state-of-art ballistic range instrumentation to cater to the futuristic demands of armaments and modernisation of ammunition storage and handling system, said an officer.