An intense fire gutted four used clothes’ warehouses, located in the same building and rented out to different traders, near Paracha graveyard in Sher Shah on Tuesday.
The blaze erupted around 2am in a warehouse named Bhashani and couldn’t be doused for hours, reportedly, due to the shortage of water. It then spread rapidly to engulf three more warehouses.
As soon as the fire broke out, the police rushed to the place of the incident and informed the fire department, while cops remained deployed in the vicinity of the burning warehouses, according to Sher Shah SHO sub-inspector Abdul Rehman.
Following this, firefighters, along with a fire tender, were sent to the site. However, they soon ran out of water and had to call for further assistance, it was reported.
“Firefighters had arrived quickly and the damage could have been controlled to a large extent had there been sufficient supply of water,” SHO Rehman said. He said he had been trying to contact relevant officials, including the deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner, to seek assistant with regards to the supply of water, but to no avail.
While clouds of smoke darkened the sky and roaring flames continued to spread, the extinguishing operation remained halted for at least an hour until the arrival of three more fire tenders from different fire stations.
According the owner and employees of the burnt down warehouses, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) sent just two water bowsers to the site, even when they had called for six, each costing Rs15,000. They said they also tried to contact private water suppliers in the meanwhile.
A Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) spokesperson, on the other hand, denied water shortage hampering the extinguishing operation. He further stated that the KMC had dispatched fire tenders and water bowsers soon after the incident was reported but its staff faced difficulties in accessing the site of the incident as it was located in a narrow lane, amid congested surroundings.
Separately, the KWSB also claimed in a statement that as soon as the incident was report, KWSB managing director imposed an emergency on NIPA, Sakhi Hasan and Crush Plant hydrants, from where multiple tankers were sent to assist with controlling the fire. The tanker cell focal person also reached the site to ensure the continuous supply of water, as per the statement.
This was confirmed by fire department officials.
According to SITE Area assistant commissioner, there was a shortage of water initially but the problem was resolved in some time.
The fire, which was doused after a struggle of 16 hours, caused the roof of one of the warehouses to cave in and firefighters had to break at least three walls to be able to extinguish the blaze. At least seven fire tenders and five water bowsers were used to douse the fire, which left the warehouses in tatters and the building there were located in at risk of collapsing.
The assistant commissioner said that the warehouses’ building was being inspected and if found unsafe, it would be sealed and demolished.
He added that there were multiple warehouses in Sher Shah where no fire safety measures were implemented.
“Hence, Karachi commissioner and SITE Limited have agreed that the latter will form a team to survey warehouses in the area and seal the ones lacking fire safety arrangements,” he added.
The warehouses’ owner told The Express Tribune that the material of clothes kept in the warehouses also comprised polyester and the clothes were preserved using different chemicals. The polyester and the chemicals both worked to stoke the fire, he explained.
According to SHO Rehman, the warehouse’s owners had stocked winter clothing throughout the year and were in the process of packing the clothes to be sent to different cities in Pakistan, as well as Afghanistan and Iran, for sale.
While the KMC spokesperson attributed the fire to short circuit, the cause couldn’t be confirmed till the filing of this report.
(With additional input from APP)
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ