A fire that had broken out at a Gazipur factory, following a boiler explosion this afternoon, was brought under control after nearly an hour of firefighting efforts.

The blaze erupted around 2:10pm at Auto Green Oil Company in the College Gate (Maijgaon) area under Pubail Police Station, said Atikur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Pubail Police Station.

Md Shahin Alam, senior station officer of Tongi Fire Service and Civil Defence Station, told The Daily Star that three firefighting units reached the scene within 10 minutes of receiving the information.

"The fire was brought completely under control around 3:00pm with the efforts of the three units," he said.

Shahin Alam alleged that the establishment was operating illegally and posed significant safety risks.

"This was an illegal and highly hazardous facility. Discarded tyres were being burned here to produce unrefined fuel, which was then marketed and sold," he said.

He added that no responsible representative of the company was found at the scene, making it impossible to immediately assess the extent of the damage.

"No casualties were reported," he said.

The fire service official also alleged that the owner of the company fled after learning about the fire.

Legal action will be taken against the company, he added.

The exact cause of the fire and the amount of damage will be ascertained after a detailed investigation, fire service officials said.