One Saudi resident was injured but not deaths were reported, according to Civil Defense spokesman Capt. Abdullah Al-Amri.
Al-Amri said 10 firefighting teams of the department took part to quell the blaze, which broke out at 2:30 p.m. Civil Defense firefighters had to toil hard to reach the area as a result of heavy traffic and a large number of onlookers.
The department evacuated people residing in the buildings and distributed masks among them to prevent inhalation of smoke. “The Civil Defense has launched an investigation to determine the reason for the fire,” Al-Amri told Arab News.
Fires have threatened Jeddah’s remaining historical buildings. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah recently ordered a study to develop the historical area of Jeddah and protect the remaining structures from fires and destruction. The Jeddah municipality announced in April 2009 a plan to develop the historical center of Jeddah by carrying out 42 projects, which will be financed by the public and private sectors including the Jeddah Construction Company.
“These projects would be carried out in three phases with the first phase taking four years,” the municipality said.
The most important among these projects is the construction of an underground service tunnel where firefighting equipment, electricity and telephone connections would be kept. In January last year, the Naseef Library, located opposite the Miamar Mosque, caught fire, which destroyed a large number of old books and manuscripts in the library.
According to Adnan Adas, manager for the development and renovation of buildings in the historical area, more than 100 historical buildings collapsed or destroyed by fire during the last 30 years. However, about 400 historical buildings still remain in the area.
