An overnight fire at a posh shopping center in a central Lahore neighborhood was out six hours after it broke out and the cooling process was underway on Monday morning, the police and the civil administration said.
نجی شاپنگ مال پیس میں لگنے والی آگ پر قابو پا لیا گیا ہے. ریسکیو 1122، فائر بریگیڈ کے عملہ نے عمدہ کام کیا. خطر ناک لگی ہوئی آگ پر مہارت سے قابو پایا. میں نے مسلسل آگ بجھانے کے عمل کی خود نگرانی کی. pic.twitter.com/qxEdmgLMV2
— Deputy Commissioner Lahore (@DCLahore) March 14, 2022
As images online showed flames peeling from the top of the block and a dark plume of smoke drifting into the sky, the city fire brigade dispatched 25 firefighters and 60 rescue workers to the Pace shopping center in Gulberg neighborhood shortly after 2:00 am.
A spokesperson for the Rescue 1122 service said snorkel and aerial platform special fire vehicles are also present on the scene while teams have also been called in from nearby districts.
No casualties were reported in the incident. The fire caused extensive material damage, ripping through hundreds of stores that sold clothes, leather goods and cosmetics — many of which were highly flammable. The cause is not known at this stage.
“Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the blaze,” the ministry statement read.
Lahore’s Pace department store on fire last night pic.twitter.com/xoHoEeJQwN
— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) March 14, 2022
Lahore Deputy Commissioner Umer Sher Chatha said it was a Class A fire — a fire that involves solid combustibles such as wood, coal, paper, plastic, straw, cloth, rubber or any other solid material.
“The building will be closed until it is safe,” a member of the fire brigade told reporters at the scene of the fire. “We have to see the impact on the structure and the police will need to go in to investigate.”