Erbil factory goes up in flames, fourth major fire in a week
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Five people were injured when a chips factory in Erbil caught fire on Thursday morning. This is the fourth large fire in Erbil in the past week.
The fire broke out at a chips factory in Khabat sub-district in the early morning.
“Khabat fire department was informed of the fire at one of the factories of the region at 5am in the morning and our teams arrived at the scene within two minutes,” Kwestan Ahmad, mayor of Khabat, told Rudaw’s Halabja Saadun on Thursday.
“We have asked the fire departments of Erbil and surrounding areas for helps as well,” she added, from the scene of the fire.
Five people were taken to hospital. At least one of the injured was a factory worker who had been in the building.
Getting the fire under control was difficult because of the large amount of plastic products in the factory. “The efforts of the firefighting team were initially to prevent the fire from spreading and they are now trying to control it,” Ahmad said. “There are currently 15 water tankers at the scene and 10 others are on the way.”
Initial indications are that the blaze was caused by an electrical fault, according to Ahmad.
This is the fourth major fire incident in Erbil in the past week.
A furniture store caught on fire on Wednesday, destroying a large number of their products in storage. Earlier this week, there was a fire in a storage shed at a petrol station in Daratu neighborhood. Last Friday, a shopping center went up in flames.
Rudaw English reached out to Erbil’s fire department, but they were not immediately available for comment.
The fire broke out at a chips factory in Khabat sub-district in the early morning.
“Khabat fire department was informed of the fire at one of the factories of the region at 5am in the morning and our teams arrived at the scene within two minutes,” Kwestan Ahmad, mayor of Khabat, told Rudaw’s Halabja Saadun on Thursday.
“We have asked the fire departments of Erbil and surrounding areas for helps as well,” she added, from the scene of the fire.
Five people were taken to hospital. At least one of the injured was a factory worker who had been in the building.
Getting the fire under control was difficult because of the large amount of plastic products in the factory. “The efforts of the firefighting team were initially to prevent the fire from spreading and they are now trying to control it,” Ahmad said. “There are currently 15 water tankers at the scene and 10 others are on the way.”
Initial indications are that the blaze was caused by an electrical fault, according to Ahmad.
This is the fourth major fire incident in Erbil in the past week.
A furniture store caught on fire on Wednesday, destroying a large number of their products in storage. Earlier this week, there was a fire in a storage shed at a petrol station in Daratu neighborhood. Last Friday, a shopping center went up in flames.
Rudaw English reached out to Erbil’s fire department, but they were not immediately available for comment.