RIYADH, 28 April 2008 — A fire that raged for nearly six hours was brought under control in the industrial area of Riyadh yesterday. The blaze in the Al-Faisaliah district, near Exit 17, gutted several warehouses, cars and partially burned a polyclinic. This was the second major fire in the industrial zone in just over a month.
According to Riyadh Civil Defense spokesman Capt. Abdullah Al-Qaffari there were no fatalities or injuries. He said the fire started at 11.20 a.m. and firefighters battled hard and long to completely extinguish the flames.
He added that the blaze began in a carpenter’s workshop and then quickly spread to adjacent warehouses. Three Civil Defense units, including 20 water tankers, attended the blaze. Police patrol units and the Saudi Red Crescent also participated in the operation.
“The area, which is approximately 250 square meters, contained a wood warehouse where the fire started. That made the task of the Civil Defense units harder. It also took the units longer to completely snuff out the fire, even the embers, before the area could be declared safe,” he said.
The spokesman denied that major fires are now a common occurrence in Riyadh. “Dozens of new warehouses and factories are being set up in the capital. We cannot say that this (blazes) is common when we compare the number of fires to the number of factories,” he added.
Al-Qaffari stressed that the Civil Defense conducted regular checks on warehouses and ensured all safety measures are in place.
“No warehouse or factory is established in Riyadh without the Civil Defense clearance, which puts emphasis on safety,” he said. “In addition, our safety patrol units conduct regular checks on warehouses and factories.”
Just last month, as many as 20 car parts shops were gutted when a fire broke out in the same industrial area, east of the capital. Many of the gutted shops lacked the simplest fire safety requirements such as smoke detectors or automatic sprinklers.
