At least four fire fighters fell unconscious when fire engulfed an oil factory near Paracha Chowk in Shershah on early hours of Saturday morning. The factory was gutted but no loss of life was reported so far. However, four personnel of fire brigade fell unconscious during operation due to omitting smoke from the oil factory. The fire broke out in the filling department of the factory at around 2:30 am. Not a single employee of the factory was present when the fire broke out in the filling department and others managed to come out of the factory safely. The fire engulfed entire factory within minutes. Fire brigade staff reached the factory to extinguish the fire but limited number of fire tenders failed to overcome the blaze. Later, fire tenders, water bowzers and snorkels from all over the country were called to extinguish the fire. Talking to Pakistan Today, Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Ehtesham said the fire was extinguished after 16 hours. He said four fire fighters were fell unconscious in operation due to smoke and they were shifted to hospital for treatment. He said the fire broke out in filling department of the factory but reasons behind this incident are yet to be ascertained. He said 34 fire tenders took part in this operation. This includes 17 fire tenders of local government, seven of Defence Housing Authority, three of Karachi Port Trust and one of Civil Aviation Authority. He said water bowzers of these departments have also been called due to third degree fire. Administrator Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) Muhammad Hussain Syed visited the spot and ordered evacuation of all nearby factories to avoid any untoward incident.
