A major fire broke out at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) of the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) located at Alevoor in the early hours of Saturday, causing extensive damage to the property and stored materials.
According to Udupi district fire officer Vinayak U Kalgutkar, the fire control room received an alert at around 5:10 am, following which a fire tender from the Udupi station was immediately dispatched to the site.
“When we reached there, the blaze was massive. Since the facility contained a large quantity of plastic and oil-based materials, the fire kept reigniting even after being doused with water, making the operation extremely challenging,”
said Kalgutkar.
The fire department alerted CMC officials, and three earthmovers were deployed to assist in clearing and segregating the burning waste. Additional support came from the Malpe fire station, with two water tenders and about 10–12 personnel engaged in the firefighting operation.
The team, led by the district fire officer, first focused on containing the flames before adopting the starvation method — cutting off the fuel source to prevent the fire from reigniting.
Authorities are assessing the extent of damage, though preliminary reports suggest that large quantities of plastic waste and recyclable materials were destroyed.
The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.