JEDDAH, 5 June 2007 — For the second day running, the Civil Defense firefighters were battling yesterday to put out a fire that broke out at a warehouse containing 18,000 tons of paper in the south of Jeddah.
The fire began at 1 p.m. Sunday in a 20,000-square meter warehouse located on a massive 126,000-square meter paper factory complex belonging to the Al-Sharaq Al-Awsat paper factory (not to be confused with the international Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper), said fire department officials. The paper contained in the warehouse is estimated to cost SR6 million.
Abdullah Al-Amri, spokesman for the Civil Defense in the Makkah region, said that because the warehouse is located in an open area, wind has played a negative role in fanning the fire.
He added that on the first day, high winds caused the fire to spread to trees close by. The warehouse contained six-meter high paper bales weighing 350 kilograms each.
Twelve Civil Defense teams, rescue teams and paramedics were still trying to bring the fire under control late yesterday. No causalities have been reported, said Al-Amri, adding that investigations are under way to determine the cause of the fire.
Civil Defense officials predict the fire would continue for another day. This is the second such fire in Jeddah this year.
