A denim factory at one of the city’s industrial zones was gutted when a fire broke out there on March 10
KARACHI: To letter is addressed to the higher authorities regarding Karachi’s fire brigade system. A denim factory at one of the city’s industrial zones was gutted when a fire broke out there on March 10. Before fire fighters could douse the fire, the flames engulfed the entire unit and reached the third floor of the building. The fire brigade spokesperson said there were around a dozen fire tenders and they had run out of water. They controlled the fire finally after 24 hours and this is not, by any means, an achievement. It is something to be ashamed of and something that should make the rest of us anxious.
There is probably no other fire brigade system in the world that runs out of water or chemical to control a fire. The fire brigade had one job but if it cannot even handle that single task, how can the fire emergency system work? We have lost most of our systems due to the careless attitudes and the mismanagement of government authorities. In the past, we suffered from the same stories of shortage of water when it came to fire emergencies. Karachi is a city of approximately 25 million people. Accidents and emergencies are bound to happen and to control these kinds of cases, we have only a dozen fire fighters and one snorkel. We must come up with better policies and systems for our beloved city and other cities of our country as well.
Areeba Naz
Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2017.
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