KARACHI: Three multi-storey buildings which housed godowns of wooden stuff, shops and residential apartments were destroyed and an equal number of buildings suffered massive damages when a huge fire broke out in the Timber Market in the Napier area of the old city on Sunday.

The blaze that erupted late on Saturday night was extinguished after hectic efforts of 12 hours while the cooling process continued till Sunday evening, according to fire brigade chief Ihtishamuddin.

The official said that they were informed about the fire at 1.20am and they initially sent two fire tenders from local fire station to control it. The fire had broken out in two shops with wooden stuff but it spread rapidly, engulfing all adjacent godowns and shops and residential areas located close to the market, he said.

As the fire spread, the fire brigade called in around 28 firefighters from different stations and re-enforcements from the Pakistan Navy, KPT, DHA and Cantonments who helped put out the blaze by 10.30am on Sunday by using about 600,000 gallons of water, he said.

“The major problem that hampered firefighting efforts was that streets were very congested and firefighters faced great difficulty in getting access to the affected area,” said Ihtishamuddin.

Somehow, they managed to concentrate on the fire that had erupted in one of the godowns where wood was stocked. After controlling the blaze, the fire chief said, they turned to saving human lives and evacuated all people. Luckily, therefore, no loss of life was reported, he added.

Though the fire had erupted in timber godowns it did the most damage to the residential flats nearby and rendered a large number of people homeless.

Moving scenes were witnessed as the affected people, especially women, were seen wailing as they watched their homes and belongings go up in flames.

The area residents said that around 400 shops, flats and godowns were destroyed in the fire but the fire brigade chief said that estimates of losses could only be made after a proper survey, likely to be carried out on Monday.

He said the exact cause of the fire would be ascertained after the survey. A total of 45 fire tenders took part in the firefighting effort and the fire tenders would remain at the affected site till Monday to meet any eventuality, he added.

City SSP Sheeraz Nazeer said that three buildings housing godowns, shops and flats were destroyed while three to four other buildings were badly damaged by the impact of the huge fire.

He said the losses amountd to ‘billions of rupees’. “Police have no expertise to determine the cause of a fire,” said the SSP.

He said it would be determined after a proper probe that whether the fire was caused by a short circuit, a burning cigarette stub or a bonfire somebody might have made to get warm or a sabotage activity.

The roots of Timber Market may be traced to the British colonial era when demand for wooden stuff increased due to construction of buildings, said Gul Hasan Kalmati, author a book on Karachi.

He recalled that the demand for wood increased manifold at that time as old buildings’ roofs, staircases etc were made of wood in that era. However, he added that the mushroom growth of the market took place after independence. Mr Kalmati said there were hardly 15 to 20 timber shops on Napier Road in the colonial era. The growth of the market occured when old Haji Camp, also established in the colonial era, was shifted somewhere else and on its vacated place other shops were built.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2014