Warehouse blaze finally put out
Firefighters say management ignored regulations
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire that erupted in a cooking oil warehouse on Tuesday. PHOTO: APP
RAWALPINDI:
A day after a fire broke out in the warehouse of a cooking oil and ghee manufacturers, firefighters continued their efforts to douse the flames till late in the Wednesday evening.
At least two firefighters got injured as one of the walls of the oil depot collapsed during the fire extinguishing operation on Wednesday.
Both the Rescue 1122 workers, Kaleem and Khurram, were immediately retrieved by other firefighters from blazes and rushed to the hospital, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hamza Ali said. He claimed that extinguishing operation was near to completion, hoping that it would be completely put off by Wednesday night.
However, the official hinted at the violation of building by-laws and standard operating procedures (SOPs) at the warehouse.
Ali said that firefighters had reported that they saw oil canisters stacked up even in the corridors of the building.
The fire erupted in at a ghee and cooking oil warehouse, located near Kalyam Mor on Tuesday. It engulfed the entire warehouse sprawled over 50 kanals within a short span of time. The blaze has not been completely put off even after 24 hours long rigrous efforts of the firefighting teams.
The fire was so intense that smoke clouds, formed above it, could be seen from miles away.
Rawalpindi Commissioner Muhamamd Mahmood visited the site of the fire and observed the firefighting efforts.
Regarding, reports that the standard operating procedures for storing cooking oil were not followed at the facility, he said the district administration has decided to investigate the cause of the fire.
However, Saqib, who was part of the warehouse management, said that they had taken all fire safety measures and had cylinders installed. When the fire erupted, we tried to put it off but couldn’t control it from spreading, he added.
Saqib asserted that as soon as the fire erupted, they called Rescue 1122, asserting that fire trucks did not arrive until 90 minutes. He claimed that after this duration, only two fire bowsers arrived at the incident site after 90 minutes but they were out of water.
Rescue 1122 District Emergency Officer (DEO) Dr Abdul Rehman refuted all allegations made by the warehouse management.
He claimed the response time to be only 16 minutes after getting information on the command and control system.
DEO said that 10 fire tenders rushed to the site and used some 400 litres foam to put off the fire. Dr Rehman said that they would suggest forming a committee comprising district, Rescue 1122, Civil Defence Department (CDD), civil engineers and experts. This committee, he added, would be tasked to probe into swift fire spread as they have learnt about the violation of industrial SOPs and building bylaws.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 18th, 2020.
A day after a fire broke out in the warehouse of a cooking oil and ghee manufacturers, firefighters continued their efforts to douse the flames till late in the Wednesday evening.
At least two firefighters got injured as one of the walls of the oil depot collapsed during the fire extinguishing operation on Wednesday.
Both the Rescue 1122 workers, Kaleem and Khurram, were immediately retrieved by other firefighters from blazes and rushed to the hospital, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hamza Ali said. He claimed that extinguishing operation was near to completion, hoping that it would be completely put off by Wednesday night.
However, the official hinted at the violation of building by-laws and standard operating procedures (SOPs) at the warehouse.
Ali said that firefighters had reported that they saw oil canisters stacked up even in the corridors of the building.
The fire erupted in at a ghee and cooking oil warehouse, located near Kalyam Mor on Tuesday. It engulfed the entire warehouse sprawled over 50 kanals within a short span of time. The blaze has not been completely put off even after 24 hours long rigrous efforts of the firefighting teams.
The fire was so intense that smoke clouds, formed above it, could be seen from miles away.
Rawalpindi Commissioner Muhamamd Mahmood visited the site of the fire and observed the firefighting efforts.
Regarding, reports that the standard operating procedures for storing cooking oil were not followed at the facility, he said the district administration has decided to investigate the cause of the fire.
However, Saqib, who was part of the warehouse management, said that they had taken all fire safety measures and had cylinders installed. When the fire erupted, we tried to put it off but couldn’t control it from spreading, he added.
Saqib asserted that as soon as the fire erupted, they called Rescue 1122, asserting that fire trucks did not arrive until 90 minutes. He claimed that after this duration, only two fire bowsers arrived at the incident site after 90 minutes but they were out of water.
Rescue 1122 District Emergency Officer (DEO) Dr Abdul Rehman refuted all allegations made by the warehouse management.
He claimed the response time to be only 16 minutes after getting information on the command and control system.
DEO said that 10 fire tenders rushed to the site and used some 400 litres foam to put off the fire. Dr Rehman said that they would suggest forming a committee comprising district, Rescue 1122, Civil Defence Department (CDD), civil engineers and experts. This committee, he added, would be tasked to probe into swift fire spread as they have learnt about the violation of industrial SOPs and building bylaws.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 18th, 2020.