Blaze at firecracker warehouse causes panic on MA Jinnah Road

A massive fire broke out on Sunday morning at a firecracker warehouse in a residential area of Karachi near MA Jinnah Road. The blaze however was brought under control after an hours-long firefighting operation.

Besides the warehouse, the fire also gutted three vehicles.

Firecrackers were stored in a structure built on a vacant plot near the Sea Breeze building on MA Jinnah Road within the jurisdiction of the Preedy police station. As they caught fire, they exploded with loud sounds, spreading panic among residents of the nearby houses. Clouds of smoke hovered over multi-storey buildings in the area adding to the panic.

According to a fire brigade spokesperson, one fire tender was immediately despatched to the site to douse the flames as they received the information of the blaze at around 11am. However, later, two more fire tenders were sent to participate in the fire extinguishing work.

The firefighters faced difficulties in the extinguishing work as the firecrackers continued to explode. The fire also damaged vehicles parked near the warehouse whose owner has been identified as Hanif.

The fire department spokesperson said that despite obstacles, they successfully stopped fire from spreading to other buildings.

A score of residents of the area also gathered outside the warehouse. They said the warehouse was owned by a man, Hanif. They added that a fire had also erupted at his another warehouse in the same locality in the past. “Hanif had brought the firecrackers for Diwali but the fire mysteriously broke out,” a resident said.

The fire brigade spokesperson said the actual cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.

The owner of the warehouse has reportedly been arrested. South Deputy Commissioner Irshad Sodhar said it was illegal to build a firecracker warehouse in a residential area. He clarified that it was not a factory but only a warehouse where firecrackers had been stored.