In flames: Five blazes cause millions in losses on first day of 2015
First fire of the day engulfed a furniture market in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.
Alam added that it had been suggested that the department should be privatised as it was impossible to work with staff who had their job because of political connections and affiliations. PHOTO: ONLINE
KARACHI:
Less than a week after a fire in the city’s timber market at the Old Haji Camp destroyed more than 250 shops, 50 warehouses and 18 residential buildings — five consecutive fires on Thursday, raised several eyebrows and questions about the efficiency of the fire brigade department.
At 11:20am, the first fire of the day engulfed a furniture market on Munawar Chowrangi, Gulistan-e-Jauhar. Around two kilometres away, the kitchen of a bakery was on fire near the Meteorological department’s office at noon. Less than 60 minutes later, another fire broke out at Madho Goth, Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Later, a fire erupted at a private godown in Gulshan-e-Maymar around 3pm. An hour later Baldia Town’s Mawach Goth was consumed by flames.
The fires, it is suspected, were caused by people burning wood to keep warm on Thursday as temperatures dropped to 12 degrees centigrade. Within seconds, the flames caused damage worth millions as no fire tenders could reach on time.
When contacted the chief officer of the fire department and station commanders of different fire stations were unavailable for comments. However, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) municipal department’s director Masood Alam, who looks after the fire department, said that it was imperative to bring some changes in the department immediately.
“Although we had sent fire tenders to put out the fires, I can’t do anything if the fire fighters are unwilling to do their job,” said Alam, while talking to The Express Tribune. “The alarm bells are ringing. The fire brigade department needs to be reorganised from top to bottom. After the timber market fire which caused losses of more than a billion rupees, we can’t go through something like that again.” He added that in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, which is the one of the largest areas in the city in terms of vertical development, the furniture market was located in a prime area and they managed to douse the fire in time.
According to Alam, if the fire had not been put out in time, it could have spread to high-rise buildings in the area. “Thank God no casualties were reported,” he said. “But what can one do in these fires? No one can predict anything.” He added that it had been a very hectic day for his department as they only had 400 fire fighters at their disposal.
He claimed that there weren’t enough men on the team to drive fire tenders or the water browsers, even though they were giving Rs700 million in salaries to their employees.
Alam added that it had been suggested that the department should be privatised as it was impossible to work with staff who had their job because of political connections and affiliations.
While talking about how the department dealt with the fires, he said that they had to announce an emergency. “We are lucky that no causalities were reported,” he said. “We do not know what will happen or what to do if a fire breaks out in a high-rise building.”
JI demands judicial inquiry
The chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Sirajul Haq, has demanded a judicial inquiry into the fire that broke out in the city’s timber market on Saturday night.
“Instead of hurling accusations at each other, the Pakistan Peoples Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement should take practical measures for the rehabilitation of those affected traders by the fire,” said Haq, while talking to the media during a visit to the timber market on Thursday.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2015.
Less than a week after a fire in the city’s timber market at the Old Haji Camp destroyed more than 250 shops, 50 warehouses and 18 residential buildings — five consecutive fires on Thursday, raised several eyebrows and questions about the efficiency of the fire brigade department.
At 11:20am, the first fire of the day engulfed a furniture market on Munawar Chowrangi, Gulistan-e-Jauhar. Around two kilometres away, the kitchen of a bakery was on fire near the Meteorological department’s office at noon. Less than 60 minutes later, another fire broke out at Madho Goth, Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Later, a fire erupted at a private godown in Gulshan-e-Maymar around 3pm. An hour later Baldia Town’s Mawach Goth was consumed by flames.
The fires, it is suspected, were caused by people burning wood to keep warm on Thursday as temperatures dropped to 12 degrees centigrade. Within seconds, the flames caused damage worth millions as no fire tenders could reach on time.
When contacted the chief officer of the fire department and station commanders of different fire stations were unavailable for comments. However, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) municipal department’s director Masood Alam, who looks after the fire department, said that it was imperative to bring some changes in the department immediately.
“Although we had sent fire tenders to put out the fires, I can’t do anything if the fire fighters are unwilling to do their job,” said Alam, while talking to The Express Tribune. “The alarm bells are ringing. The fire brigade department needs to be reorganised from top to bottom. After the timber market fire which caused losses of more than a billion rupees, we can’t go through something like that again.” He added that in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, which is the one of the largest areas in the city in terms of vertical development, the furniture market was located in a prime area and they managed to douse the fire in time.
According to Alam, if the fire had not been put out in time, it could have spread to high-rise buildings in the area. “Thank God no casualties were reported,” he said. “But what can one do in these fires? No one can predict anything.” He added that it had been a very hectic day for his department as they only had 400 fire fighters at their disposal.
He claimed that there weren’t enough men on the team to drive fire tenders or the water browsers, even though they were giving Rs700 million in salaries to their employees.
Alam added that it had been suggested that the department should be privatised as it was impossible to work with staff who had their job because of political connections and affiliations.
While talking about how the department dealt with the fires, he said that they had to announce an emergency. “We are lucky that no causalities were reported,” he said. “We do not know what will happen or what to do if a fire breaks out in a high-rise building.”
JI demands judicial inquiry
The chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Sirajul Haq, has demanded a judicial inquiry into the fire that broke out in the city’s timber market on Saturday night.
“Instead of hurling accusations at each other, the Pakistan Peoples Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement should take practical measures for the rehabilitation of those affected traders by the fire,” said Haq, while talking to the media during a visit to the timber market on Thursday.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2015.