• Strict ban also sought on keeping goods in stalls during night hours;
• The committee recommended conducting a fire safety audit of the market;
• A ban on the use of tarpaulins and restriction on subletting stalls

ISLAMABAD: A committee constituted to probe the incident of fire at H-9 weekly bazaar last month has proposed several recommendations, including improving the operation systems of the emergency services, to prevent such incidents in the future.

The district magistrate had constituted the eight-member committee to inquire into the fire at H-9 on June 23.

The committee comprised the additional deputy commissioner general, chief officer Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad, the superintendent of police Soan, director emergency and disaster management Capital Development Authority, assistant commissioner Industrial Area, assistant director Civil Defence and the director district emergency officer Rawalpindi.

The committee was asked to establish facts, including the response time of the rescue services, ascertain cause of the fire and potential factors that led to the spread of the flames, and ascertain the extent of damages.

Officials of the capital administration said that besides recommending further improvement of emergency services operations, the committee recommended a strict ban on keeping goods in stalls during night hours. It said vendors should be required to keep goods in stalls only during market hours.

The committee also recommended conducting a fire safety audit of the market, a ban on the use of tarpaulins that catch fire easily, and restriction on subletting stalls with the cancellation of allotments in case of a violation.

During the inquiry, the committee recorded statements of several shopkeepers and the security staff.

The inquiry committee stated that the fire initially broke out in stalls C-432 and C-433 at 9:45pm. Initially, attempts were made to extinguish the flames on self-help basis.

The fire brigade was called at 9:51pm, while the first fire brigade vehicle entered the market at 10:02pm. The first officer, Assistant Commissioner I-9, reached the spot at 9:57pm.

Teams from Capital Emergency Services and Rawalpindi Rescue 1122 participated in the relief activities. Jinnah Convention Center fire tenders and Naval Headquarters water browsers also participated in the relief activities.

The fire was completely brought under control at 1:20am.

The committee found that the vendors were also using the stalls as warehouses by storing extra goods there. Fire safety standards were not followed as the vendors were renting out stalls to others.

Bazaar guards were given fire safety training twice three years ago and again in 2025.

The fire tender was not found present at its duty station at the time of the incident. According to rescue services, the fire tender had left to fill water.

Instead of informing the rescue services immediately after the fire broke out, the watchmen tried to put out the fire themselves.

The facilities in the market were inadequate to control the sudden fire. The causes of the fire will be determined according to the report of the forensic team.

It may be mentioned that a massive fire broke out at the bazaar on June 23 night, and engulfed a large number of stalls.

The fire erupted in Block C of the bazaar, housing mostly stalls of clothings and shoes and spread rapidly, prompting a large-scale emergency response. However, no injury or loss of human lives were reported.

However, the fire gutted hundreds of stalls and the merchandise kept inside.

This was the fifth incident of fire at the weekly bazaar since 2017. Out of the five incidents, three took place on Wednesday while two incidents occurred on Tuesday.

On August 24, 2017, a massive fire broke out in Block C which gutted around 550 stalls of garments, utensils, and nimkos, while 98 other stalls in Block H and a shoe market were also damaged.

On July 19, 2018, about 110 stalls in the E and F blocks were completely destroyed in a massive fire at the bazaar. On October 30, 2019, at least 300 stalls in blocks D, E, and H were gutted.

About 133 stalls were gutted in a fire that engulfed the weekly bazaar on December 7, 2022. Out of total, 101 stalls were located in F-Block while the rest in the E-Block.

In July 2024, nearly 700 stalls were gutted after a blaze spread rapidly through the garment section following rainfall. Authorities had at the time suspected an electrical short circuit as the cause of the fire.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2026