Another incident: Fire breaks out in timber warehouse

Blaze extinguished after seven hours

KARACHI: Timber worth millions of rupees was burnt to ashes after a fire erupted at a timber godown in Old Haji camp in Lyari on Monday morning.

The fire erupted at around 6am on Monday, according to chief fire officer Tehseen Siddiqui. Timber catches fire rapidly and once the blaze was out of control, it spread to two more timber godowns situated adjacent to the first one.

Fire tenders from a nearby centre in Lyari were sent to the spot upon receiving news of the fire, said Siddiqui.

However, after the other two godowns were also engulfed by the blaze, it was impossible for only one fire tender to extinguish the fire and therefore a total of six fire tenders, along with a bowser, took part in the fire extinguishing operation, he said, adding that the fire was doused after seven hours.



Upon witnessing the severity of the fire, nearby residents were asked to evacuate their houses as the thick smoke had started to create breathing issues in the locality, said Siddiqui.

The cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained. It may have been due to a minor short-circuit but since there was wood all around, which catches fire rapidly, it turned into a massive fire, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2016.