LAHORE – The fire that gutted the Shah Alam market on Monday exposed the working capacity, efficiency, abilities and equipments of fire fighting agencies, Pakistan Today observed on Wednesday. It was observed that the fire died on its own rather than the efforts of fire fighters after 36 hours since it erupted inside Baheria Plaza located in Shah Alam Market and damaged at least 13 plazas, three mosques, two houses and valuables worth billions of rupees.
According to reports, rescue officials faced serious problems as all approaching roads to the Baheria Plaza were narrow and rescue vehicles were not able close in on the burning plaza. It was learnt there were 10 approaching streets to Baheria Plaza but only from three sides. The approach distance to the plaza was considered short at about 500 meters.
Low throw capacity: Rescuers used the three approaching roads and parked water tanks at the said distance. It was learnt that the rescue vehicles did not have the capacity to throw water from the required pressure from the 500m distance. The lapse helped the fire expand onto nearbly buildings. Rescue and Fire Brigade sources told Pakistan Today that the vehicles were only equipped to throw water at required pressure at a 200 meter range. The sources said the above mentioned causes were why the fire could not be contained.
Hydrants needed: Rescue 1122 fire fighting expert Muhammad Noman Noor told Pakistan Today that the solution to high intensity fires within the Walled City or congested localities like the Shah Alam Market was the installation of hydrants supported by tubewells. He said Rescue 1122 has requested Punjab Government for 105 hydrants at and around congested places to provide fire fighters easy access to water. He said only 14 hydrants were operational in the city. He said existing hydrants had been of great help during the last two years citing the Hafeez Centre and Bhindara Centre fires.
Resting on laurels: It was observed that after fighting the fire for 16 consecutive hours on Monday fire fighters finally assumed that the fire would extinguish itself and their efforts were useless. Locals confirmed that after 12 midnight on Monday, fire fighters decided to wait for the fire to extinguish before they began to pick up the rubble.
Electricity and gas supply not stopped: An eyewitness, Saleem Ali, said coordination was weak. He said WAPDA and SNGPL officials ignored fire fighters’ requests for 6 hours until they came to the area and switched off gas and electricity supplies.
Help yourself: Rescue and Edhi officials confirmed they had not started removing debris on Wednesday because they feared the three damaged plazas could collapse.
Late on Wednesday night locals themselves began efforts to remove the debris. It is pertinent to mention that a minimum six persons including Baheria Plaza watchman Shamasul Qamar, Qadri Plaza watchman Muhammad Kamal and one guest, Japan Plaza’s watchman and two labourers Zahir Khan and Bakhti Khan, are still inside the debris. Locals started retuning to their homes but faced problems with gas and electricy still to be restored.
