KARACHI: A plastic factory in Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) area of the metropolis was gutted by a huge fire on Sunday before it was put out with the help of fire-fighting vehicles in an operation that lasted six-hours.
According to the fire department sources, the fire broke out in plastic factory located in Labour Square area of SITE and was controlled in the afternoon.
The factory, spread over 1,500 square yards, was used to produce plastic chairs, informed officials. At least 70 firemen called from almost all the fire stations across of the city extinguished the fire by making the joint efforts. Police and Rangers personnel cordoned off the site of the incident to prevent passersby from coming close to the factory.
The grid station of K-Electric and a CNG station were situated close to the factory. The gas station was evacuated immediately.
Fire officials had requested all city departments to send their fire tenders to the site to aid the dousing efforts, following which vehicles were sent from the water board, Pakistan Navy and the Karachi Port Trust.
Quoting an official of the factory, the department sources said losses went into millions of rupees, but fortunately there was no loss of human life or complaints of burn injuries, as it was a day-off and no laborers were present inside the factory. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained immediately.
Shortage of water posed a major impediment in controlling the fire which was already raging due to plastic burning, the fire-fighter added. There was no proper fire-fighting arrangement inside the warehouse despite the fact that plastic was most vulnerable to fire, he said.
The spokesman of the fire department said that the chief fire officer also requested the authorities concerned to suspend electricity and gas supply to the area’s industrial units as a preventive measure. Since the fire has almost come to an end another three to four hours would be needed for the cooling of the affected area, he added.
Karachi mayor Waseem Akhtar also visited the site to oversee firefighting operations. On this occasion, Akhtar requested the Sindh government to make the fire department self-sufficient.
He said that the fire department did not have the necessary equipment to deal with such incidents, saying all the vehicles had been utilised here and in case of an incident elsewhere in the city, they would have no fire tenders to utilise.
Karachi mayor said that the city government’s fire brigade lacked proper resources for its fire fighting operation. He blamed PPP-led Sindh government for dilapidated situation.
