Thane, March 10 -- A major fire broke out at a chemical factory in the Anand Nagar Industrial Area of Ambernath, near Thane, on Monday evening at around 5:30 pm. While no casualties were reported, fire fighters took three hours to douse the flames. According to fire officials, the fire erupted at Shri Ganesh Chemicals and soon grew so intense that the massive flames were visible from nearly 5km away. During the blaze, chemical drums and other materials were scattered onto nearby roads. Local residents said the blaze, which was followed by eight to ten explosion-like sounds, led to panic in the nearby areas. Due to the intensity of the fire, the flames spread to nearly 10 neighbouring industrial units, forcing them to shut down operations and evacuate their premises as a precautionary measure to prevent further damage. Thick smoke and a strong, foul chemical odour spread across nearby areas prompted authorities to evacuate residents from a nearby village as a safety measure. Speaking to HT, fire official Bhagwat Sonone said, "The fire has been brought under control and cooling of the unit has been initiated. As of now, the cause of the fire is not known. We will launch an investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire after the fire fighting operation is completed," he said. Officials later confirmed that cooling operations were underway to prevent the flames from reigniting....