Fire at Beverly Centre: Dozens of shops gutted in upscale plaza

More than a dozen vehicles of CDA’s Rescue and Fire department and two snorkels control the fire.

ISLAMABAD: Dozens of shops were gutted in a fire that engulfed over half of the upper two storeys of Beverly Centre in Blue Area. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear and no casualties were reported till the filing of this report, as firefighters continued to fight the flames late into the night.

More than a dozen vehicles of Capital Development Authority’s Rescue and Fire department and two snorkels took part in the effort to control the fire.

The raging fire even spread to the first floor of the building and damaged some shops before it was brought under control.

Eyewitnesses said the fire erupted from the fourth floor of the five-storey building at some time between 8:00-8:30pm and engulfed the top floor within “minutes”. Some witnesses said that the fire brigade vehicle were “late” to arrive at the spot. Police personnel cordoned off the area and made space for the two snorkels to operate. The firefighters were struggling to negotiate the flames before the two snorkels arrived at the scene to speed up the operation.

A number of concerned traders and owners of the shops rushed to the scene as the news of fire spread. They were stopped by the police from going near the shops against their wills.

“We wanted to salvage whatever valuables and cash we could,” said Muhammad Obaid, a trader. Some of the traders, however, managed to break through the cordons to reach their shops and save their cash and computers.

Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (DC) Amir Ahmed Ali said that the cause of fire could only be ascertained after the completion of rescue and search operation. “So far there are no casualties,” he told The Express Tribune.

Had the fire spread further, it could have engulfed a fuel station on one side of the centre. However, the firefighters managed to control it just in time. As a precautionary measure, fuel from station was removed, and it was shut down.

It was not before two-and-a-half-hours that rescue personnel managed to enter the building. The fire was still not extinguished till the filing of this report at 12:15am. The total damage is estimated to be in “millions of rupees”, according to police.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2011.