UAE | General
Massive fire sweeps through parts of Fujairah Free Zone
No one was injured in blaze which was described as the largest in emirate for many years.
- By Fuad Ali, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:46 December 5, 2008
Fujairah: A huge fire engulfed parts of Fujairah Free Zone Thursday night causing substantial damage but no injuries, Zone officials said.
Up to 60 firemen and 12 fire engines fought to control the fire, which was described as the largest in Fujairah in many years.
Civil defence teams from Khor Fakkan, Kalba, Fujairah Airport as well as centres in Al Dhaid, Sharjah, Al Manama and Ajman were all called in to provide support to the Fujairah Civil Defence firefighters.
Authorities received the first report of the fire at 11.05pm and, after nearly seven hours of battling the flames, the main operation was concluded at 6am on Friday morning.
A number of warehouses and factories were damaged in the fire, according to Lieutenant Colonel Ali Obaid Al Tenaiji, Director of Fujairah Civil Defence.
Al Tenaiji said: "The fire covered a huge area and the close proximity of the warehouse and their inflammable content helped the fire to spread rapidly, but thanks to some great efforts from the firefighting teams we managed to eventually control the situation."
Most of the warehouses contained dry material such as paper as well as liquid matter including petrochemicals, but officials were quick to dismiss any health hazards to the general public as a consequence of the fire.
The fire caused a number of fireball explosions as inflammable matter caught fire.
Large clouds of smoke rose hundreds of metres in the Fujairah night sky but appeared to drift safely away from the residential area of Sakamkam and towards the open sea.
The fire drew a large crowed of onlookers as police struggled to keep cars and curious pedestrians away from near the site of the blaze.
An official from the Fujairah Free Zone said it was too early to estimate the total financial loss, adding that assessment of the damage would start as soon as the sites had been secured.
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