Blazes expose city’s burnt-out fire dept

Baby dies in fire; only seven fire stations operational in metropolis on Sunday

KARACHI: Blazes breaking out across the city on Sunday evening further highlighted the dire state of the city's fire department. A baby burnt to death in a fire in Baldia Town, while residents of a slum area in Gulshan-e-Maymar beat up fire department officials after their shanties burned down.

An infant girl burnt to death when a fire erupted in a house in Baldia Town on Sunday night. According to neighbours, the child, identified as Safia, daughter of Nadeem, was sleeping in the upper portion of the house in Saeedabad when the fire broke out.

Area residents immediately informed the fire department and began rescue efforts themselves. Upon finding the child, who had received severe burn injuries, they, along with rescue officials, shifted her to a nearby hospital. However, the baby succumbed to the injuries on the way to the hospital. The family took her body with them from the hospital.

Fire tenders managed to put out the blaze upon arriving at the scene. A fire department official said that the cause of the fire could not yet be determined.

Meanwhile, bushes in Faqeera Goth, Gulshan-e-Maymar, caught fire on Sunday evening, spreading to nearby shanties. Although the fire department was immediately informed, firefighters were late to reach the location and the fire had burnt 10 shanties to ashes by the time of their arrival.

Enraged residents started beating the fire fighting staff for their delayed arrival. However, passers-by calmed them down and the firefighters doused the flames after a struggle that was hindered by the strong winds.

According to sources, the fire tenders were sent from the Nazimabad fire station as the Gulshan-e-Maymar fire station was not functional.

There are 23 fire stations in Karachi, of which 10 were forced to shut down due to persistent negligence and lack of interest from the authorities, The Express Tribune had earlier reported. On Sunday, according to sources, only seven fire stations were operational, while the remainder were non-functional due to the unavailability of diesel. The lack of working fire stations severely compromises the department's ability to respond to emergencies in a timely manner.

In another incident earlier on Sunday, bushes on the University of Karachi campus had caught fire and were put out by fire tenders belonging to the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2020.