Industrial Area fire destroys warehouse

Fire fighters at work at the disaster site. The fire raging through the Industrial Area warehouse. PictureS: Jayan Orma

By Ramesh Mathew and Ayman Adly/Staff Reporters

In one of the worst fires that Qatar has witnessed in recent years, goods worth several millions of riyals were reduced to ashes when a huge warehouse  belonging to Qatar Logistics Company located on Street 24 of the Industrial Area was gutted yesterday. There were no casualties.

The fire,  first sighted around 5.20am at one of the largest logistical facilities of its kind in the  Industrial Area, continued into the afternoon.

A number of fire engines and water tankers were deployed for fire-fighting operations. The cause of the fire could not be confirmed immediately even though some sources in the area attributed it to an electrical short-circuit.

The facility, said to be spread across a hectare, housed goods to be delivered to a number of commercial establishments in the country, including  cargoes to be supplied to some of the prominent electronics and home appliances distributors.

The warehouse also stored large quantities of textile goods, according to sources.  

Plumes of thick black smoke from the disaster site could be seen even from a distance  hours after the fire was first sighted.  

A number of fire fighters from the Civil Defence rushed to the area on being alerted about the fire and the entire area, which usually witnesses heavy traffic flow in the morning hours, was cordoned off by police.

Civil Defence officials said that more than 20 fire engines and almost the same number of water tankers had been deployed for the operations. Many ambulances were also rushed to the site as a precautionary measure.

This was the biggest fire reported from the area since July 26 last year when a warehouse belonging to the Hamad Medical Corporation was gutted on Street 1 of the Industrial Area. Surgical and pharmaceutical goods,  worth millions of riyals, were destroyed in that fire.

The frequency at which such fires are occurring in the Industrial Area is giving nightmares to entrepreneurs having facilities there. Other than the major fires which are widely reported in the media, the area  had witnessed many minor blazes as well in recent months.