LAHORE, Jan 3: Television sets, photocopy machines, compact discs and other valuables worth Rs2 million were gutted in a blaze that erupted in the basement of a two-storey plaza on Hall Road on Saturday, rescuers said.
The fire, which gutted at least six shops-cum-warehouses and damaged some others in the two-storey Patiala Complex, was controlled after three hours by fire fighters of Rescue 1122 and the City Fire Brigade. The main hurdle in the way of fire-fighting was the single entrance to the plaza.
Rescue 1122 Fire Service spokesman Faheem Jehanzaib said the cause of fire was said to be a burning candle. However, he said some shopkeepers did not rule out short-circuit in one of the affected shops. He said the plaza was intact, but it was engulfed by thick black smoke.
At least 10 fire vehicles of Rescue 1122 and six vehicles of City Fire Brigade took part in the fire-fighting, while smoke injectors were also used to consume smoke.
District Coordination Officer Sajjad Ahmed Bhutta reached the scene as usual, examined the building and reviewed rescue work.
He told newsmen that a window would be shortly set up at his office where plaza owners and Rescue 1122 experts would review building safety codes, installation of fire-safety equipment and emergency fire exits.
Separately, fire broke out in a hotel near Baba Mauj Darya Stop, Jain Mandar and a house in Nadirabad on Baidian Road. Rescue 1122 controlled the fires within a few minutes.
After unannounced and prolonged power outages, the use of candles has one again increased and fire incidents are being reported because of candle burning.
On Friday, a fire broke out in the house of Azhar Islam in B-Block of Model Town because of a burning candle. Valuables worth Rs20,000 were reduced to ashes in this fire.
In another incident the same day, gas leaking from a stove caught fire after one of the family members tried to light a candle in the house of Arshad at Taj Company Chowk on Bund Road. The blaze gutted valuables worth Rs50,000.
Rescue 1122 said more than 50 per cent cases of fire in the winter were either related to gas leakage or burning candles.