Public safety: Fire destroys two New Auriga floors

Losses estimated at over Rs2 billion.

LAHORE:

A fire at the New Auriga Centre on Gulberg’s Main Boulevard on Friday destroyed at least two floors. The third and fourth floors were occupied by offices of Wateen Telecom.  

Fire Brigade officials said that the fire reported at around 7:30 pm started from a power generator accident. Wateen Telecom Chief Executive Officer Naeem Zamindar said there were 100 people on the premises when the fire started. He said the building was evacuated successfully without any loss of life. Dr Sajid, the Wateen Telecom general manager, estimated the losses at Rs2 billion.

Rescue officials said the glass windows on the burning floors were broken with gunshots. They said there were eight exits in the building and two water tanks for fire fighting, each with a capacity of 70,000 gallons. One of the shopkeepers said he saw some Wateen employees running down the back stairs.

He said that they told him that the floors were on fire. Four hours later it was claimed that 80 per cent of the fire had been extinguished and the rest would be put down in another 30 minutes. City Traffic police dispelled the impression that traffic on nearby roads was affected by fire fighting operation.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2012.