Massive blaze at firecracker market in U.P.’s Fatehpur guts 65 shops, crackers worth crores destroyed

A monolithic blaze ripped done a impermanent firecracker marketplace connected the MG College crushed successful Fatehpur connected Sunday (October 19, 2025), gutting much than 65 shops and destroying dozens of two-wheelers, officials said.

Firecrackers worthy respective crores of rupees were reduced to ashes, arsenic respective radical sustained insignificant pain injuries successful the fire, they said.

According to eyewitnesses, the occurrence broke retired astir 12.30 p.m. astatine 1 of the cracker stalls, allegedly sparked by a short-circuit. The blaze rapidly dispersed to the adjoining stalls, each stocked with fireworks, triggering a bid of large explosions.

Panic gripped the marketplace arsenic traders and customers scrambled to get to safety, portion a heavy unreality of fume enveloped the entity above.

Fatehpur SP Anoop Kumar Singh said nary casualties person been reported truthful far. "Our archetypal precedence is to bring the occurrence wholly nether control. The origin of the blaze is being investigated, and strict enactment volition beryllium taken against those recovered negligent," the SP said.

Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Jaiveer Singh said the occurrence engulfed the full marketplace wrong 15 to 20 minutes. "Around 65-70 shops and implicit 2 twelve two-wheelers person been wholly gutted. Fortunately, nary casualties person been reported truthful far," helium said.

Firemen utilized sand, buckets of water, and extinguishers to incorporate the blaze, officials said.

Vendors and shopkeepers, however, alleged that occurrence tenders reached the spot astir 20 minutes aft the blaze broke out, contempt the occurrence presumption being conscionable 200 meters away.

"The impermanent marketplace became cognition lone half-an-hour earlier. Within 15 minutes, everything was gone. We hardly managed to flight with our lives," Satish, a section trader, said.

Another shopkeeper said she invested ₹8 lakh into her stall; now, each the merchandise has been reduced to nothing.

District Magistrate Ravindra Singh, who rushed to the spot with the SP, said, "An enquiry has been ordered to find the nonstop origin of the occurrence and measure the losses. Strict enactment volition beryllium taken against those recovered negligent."

Meanwhile, BJP territory president Mukhlal Pal termed the incidental "unfortunate" and demanded accountability for the alleged hold successful response. Authorities person assured each imaginable assistance to the affected shopkeepers.