Taxing time: No injuries, loss of records in fire at Income Tax building

Shortage of snorkels delays fire department's efforts

KARACHI: A fire that erupted in the canteen of the Income Tax building near Sindh Secretariat on Monday did not cause any injuries or loss of records.

The fire erupted at around 9am in the canteen located on the top floor of the ground-plus-nine-storey building and caused panic among the employees as hundreds of people were present in the building at the time of the fire.

The building was, however, evacuated immediately as only the canteen was affected. The fire was put after two hours.

Three fire trucks reached the site initially and six more were called in later. The fire fighters faced difficulties due to the unavailability of a snorkel. "The snorkels are out of order and nobody is willing to pay attention to resolve such issues," complained one of the fire fighters who participated in the rescue operation. "We had to put out the fire on the ninth floor by standing on the ground floor."

The fireman believed they were lucky to have managed to control the fire despite the lack of equipment. "The entire building could have been reduced to ashes if we were unable to extinguish in time."

There were initial reports that the fire also engulfed the fourth floor of the building, where the regional tax office is located, and destroyed all the records.

The chief fire officer, Ehtishamuddin Siddiqui, denied these rumours and said that the fire was only limited to the canteen on the ninth floor.

"The record in the building remained safe," said chief commissioner for inland revenue, Hafiz Muhammad Ali.

Siddiqui added that people began to panic after thick smoke spread around the building. The fire officials have yet to determine what caused the inferno.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2015.