Fire at Faridpur's Folia Bazar Burns Seven Jute Warehouses, Destroying Three Thousand Maunds of Jute

A devastating fire at Folia Bazar in Faridpur's Alfadanga upazila has burned down seven jute warehouses and three shops. Traders who lost goods say about three thousand maunds of jute stocked in the warehouses were destroyed. They put the market value of the burned jute at around two crore taka.

The fire broke out at around 8pm on Saturday in Folia Bazar of Buraich Union in the upazila. Local people first spotted flames in one jute warehouse. Within moments the fire spread to neighbouring warehouses and shops, sending panic across the market area.

Local sources said that alongside the seven jute warehouses, one tea stall and two grocery shops were also burned. Because jute is highly flammable, the fire spread rapidly and saving the huge quantity of jute stored in the warehouses became extremely difficult.

On receiving the news, four Fire Service units from Alfadanga and Boalmari upazilas reached the spot and began work to extinguish the blaze. After about two hours of continuous effort the fire was brought under control. By then, however, most of the goods in the warehouses and shops had already burned.

Fire Service personnel said some goods could be rescued alongside the firefighting work. But a large part of the jute inside the warehouses was reduced to ashes, so the losses of the affected traders are expected to be substantial.

Two affected traders were initially identified by the names Raju and Masud. Several other traders' warehouses and shops were also damaged, and a full list of the victims and a final account of the losses are not yet ready.

Market trader Kashem Mondal said two of his relatives were among the affected traders. He said local people noticed the fire in a jute warehouse at around 8pm, and when he rushed there he saw the warehouses ablaze. According to him, about three thousand maunds of jute stored in seven warehouses were burned, worth around two crore taka at market prices.

Sohel Rana, deputy assistant director of the Faridpur Fire Service, said that on receiving the news, four units from Alfadanga and Boalmari Fire Service went to the spot and brought the fire under control. He also noted that some goods could be rescued in the incident.

However, Sohel Rana said the cause of the fire is not yet known. The matter is being investigated, and work to assess the extent of the damage is under way, he added.

Jute is one of Bangladesh's main cash crops, and markets in this region, including Faridpur, stock huge quantities of jute in season. When a warehouse catches fire, that stock turns into a major financial loss in moments, a shock that reaches farmers and the jute trade as well as the warehouse traders themselves.

The affected traders are now waiting for the outcome of the investigation. Once the cause is known and a full assessment of the damage is prepared, they will think about their next steps. For now, standing before the charred remains of their warehouses, their overwhelming concern is how to absorb a loss of around two crore taka.