100 people, 11 houses evacuated after massive UAQ fire

Umm Al Quwain - The fire spread quickly in the house because of the dry leaves and palm trees everywhere

A large fire broke out in a traditional house here at the old town in the emirate of Umm Al Quwain.
The central operations room of the UAQ Police was alerted of the massive blaze around 4.30pm on Thursday. They dispatched traffic police, ambulances, paramedics and rescue teams to the site in record time.
Col Khamis Ibrahim, deputy director of the UAQ civil defence department, said the competent firefighters managed to put out the fire and contain the flames before it spread to nearby houses.
"We also evacuated 100 people staying in 11 traditional houses in the vicinity and shifted them to a safe location."
Investigations are underway to identify the reasons behind the fire. "People should be more cooperative with the firefighters and stop crowding at the fire site so as not to obstruct their life-saving work."
The fire spread quickly in the house because of the dry leaves and palm trees everywhere. He stated, "the firefighters could not get into the house first because of the tall flames."
However, the brave and well-trained firefighters efficiently extinguished the fire using water, he explained. "The civil defence teams started putting out the burning palm trees and then moved to other parts of the house."
The UAQ firefighters had to cool down the place using a lot of water so that the fire does not start again. Col Ibrahim underlined that "it is not an easy job and requires much concentration and dedication."
He said that dry leaves should not be accumulated or left anywhere. "They easily catch fire and help spread the flames to nearby houses."
- ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com

• Umm Al Quwain