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Four hurt in warehouse blaze in Sharjah

It took Civil Defence personnel two hours to extinguish the fire which spread quickly and was difficult to control due to the nature of the materials stored in a haphazard manner, including raw plastic powder and scarp metal, according to Colonel Saleh Ali Al Mutawa, Director-General of Sharjah Police.

Col. Al Mutawa called upon Sharjah Municipality and other authorities concerned to take quick action to remove and transfer warehouses and industrial companies which store and handle flammable material from the densely populated industrial area close to the city to Saja industrial area on the Sharjah-Dhaid highway. He said the fact that industrial facilities were located so closely together added to the problem.

Units from Dubai, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain Civil Defence and the UAE Armed Forces assisted Sharjah Civil Defence in the fire-fighting operation. Colonel Ghareeb Shaban, Director-General of Sharjah Civil Defence, oversaw the operation.

Col. Al Mutawa monitored and followed up the operation closely.

He pointed out that a thorough investigation would determine the cause of the fire, but said that a fault existed in the method of storage, which was responsible for the fire spreading so quickly over a large area.

He stressed the need for meeting fire-safety requirements by similar warehouses storing flammable materials.

Col. Shaban said the items stored at the site included powdered plastic collected and piled up over an area of 18,000 square metres.

He said that because of the strong wind in the afternoon, adjoining warehouses were adversely effected by the heat generated from the fire.

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