A factory that manufactured rubber slippers in Topsia was gutted in a fire that broke out around 4.30am on Saturday.

No one was injured, police said.

A firefighter who had fallen sick from inhaling fumes during the firefighting exercise was admitted to a hospital nearby.

It took 10 fire tenders over three hours to bring the fire under control. The factory is located in a narrow lane in one of the most populated pockets of eastern Calcutta.

“Around 4.30am, some of us noticed thick fumes coming out of the tinned factory roof,” said a resident of Topsia Road.

“There were deafening sounds of some items bursting inside the factory.”

With adhesives and other chemicals stored inside, the fire in the rubber slippers factory started spewing out toxic fumes.

Youths ran out of their homes to help those living close to the factory leave their homes. Some of them went

to a nearby pond to fetch water.

“Initially, it was quite difficult because the approach to the factory was a small lane and there wasn’t enough space to park all the fire tenders,” said a senior officer of the fire services department.

“The fire continued to grow rapidly since most of the items that were kept inside were highly inflammable,” the officer said.

Eyewitnesses said a portion of the factory’s wall collapsed because of the heat that had built up.

A police team cordoned off the area and pipes were connected to pumps to fetch water from the pond nearby.