KARACHI, Oct 4: Fuel filled power generators and plastic goods caused Wednesday’s Lakshmi Building fire to get out of control. The fire was finally extinguished after a ten hour fire-fighting operation.

Quoting the fire-report finalized on Friday, Chief Fire Officer Attaur Rehman told Dawn that short circuiting was to blame for Wednesday’s massive blaze which started from the Eastern Optical Company located on the ground floor.

He said that nearly every shop has its own power generator filled with fuel for use during power-outages, and these small units played a significant role in fuelling the fire.

Furthermore, shopkeepers had altered their shops by constructing portions at the roof-level for storage purposes, and these portions made of wood were fenced by iron grills, which made the job more difficult, the CFO added. Thus, breaking through the iron grills consumed a lot of time, another fire officer said.

Moreover, no precautions were adopted by the shopkeepers themselves while stockpiling goods in the constructed portions.

Similarly, the multi-storied Textile Plaza, where a fire broke out on Thursday night, is built in such a way that fire-tenders cannot enter the building premises.

Fire-tenders had to be parked a hundred feet away from the building, and had to face a lot of hardships in producing water pressure. Secondly, the multi-storied building had no water supply for fire-fighting purpose, another fire officer maintained.