ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A fire at Jamishko camp for internally displaced Yezidis in Duhok, Zakho province, believed to have been caused by an electrical fault, engulfed 20 tents and shelters on Tuesday, as well as resident possessions. No casualties were reported in the blaze.
Maamoun Abdi, manager of Jamishko, told Rudaw that the fire started at 6:30AM on Tuesday, while Hoshang Mohammed, director general of the Kurdistan Region’s Joint Crisis Coordination Center at the Ministry of Interior, confirmed that the fire was due to an electric fault.
The owner of a women’s tailor at the camp claimed the fire started at a circuit board close to her shop.
"A fire has happened here before, but we were able to put it out with a car fire extinguisher. This time, we didn't have one [available]," she said.
Camp residents criticized the amount of time it took for emergency services to reach the scene of Tuesday’s fire. Firefighters reportedly took 20 minutes to arrive at the camp.
"With great difficulty we were able to save our children from the fire," a camp resident who lost her home in the fire told Rudaw, adding that firefighters had arrived late.
When asked by Rudaw what the reason for the delay in their arrival was, Zakho's Civil Department claimed that they had been held up by a traffic jam.
Camp residents claim that many tents, shelters and possessions could have been saved had the emergency services responded earlier.
"I call on President Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, President [sic] Qubad Talabani to allocate one fire engine specifically to our camp," said a resident.
Heavy material losses were incurred in the fire, with families losing furniture, livestock, savings, and state documents critical to accessing health care, schooling, and all other state services.
"Those who have incurred damages will be compensated without a question. Burnt tents will quickly be replaced," mayor of Zakho Botan Mushin Salih told Rudaw on the scene. He added that material possessions lost would also be compensated.
Jamishko is home to 25,000 Yezidi IDPs, who fled the Islamic State (ISIS) onslaught on the ethnoreligious community's heartland of nearby Shingal in August 2014.
Five years later, the vast majority of Yezidis continue to live in a protracted state of displacement. Of the 400,000 Yezidis displaced by ISIS violence five years ago, 360,000 continue to live in IDP camps, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Yezidi Rescue Office statistics.
Shingal is currently under the control of a host of forces, including the Iraqi Army, Hashd al-Shaabi affiliated militias, PKK-affiliated Shingal Protection Units and Yezidi Peshmerga Units. Yezidis have expressed fear and uncertainty in returning home to this security context.
An electrical fault-induced fire at the same camp on June 1, 2018 injured one resident and burned four tents.
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