Thirty-five shops and 10 to 12 shanties were destroyed early Friday when a fire swept through an open-air furniture market near Kamran Chowrangi in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar area, according to police and rescue services officials. No casualties were reported.
The fire erupted late on Thursday night in Block 11, with the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation fire brigade receiving the alert at 1:35am. Firefighters reached the site within 10 minutes, but dry weather and strong winds fueled rapid flames across the wooden goods stored on the open plot. Chief Fire Officer Humayun Khan stated that the market was built on an open plot and that it was possible that the flames emanating from huts spread and engulfed the market.
Did You Know? Affected shopkeepers noted that the market had operated for around 50 years, and that the same market had also experienced a fire last year, following an earlier incident in 2015 that destroyed furniture worth hundreds of thousands of rupees.
Massive fire engulfs furniture market in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Johar. major fire erupted overnight at a furniture market near Kamran Chowrangi in Gulistan-e-Johar, Karachi, causing heavy financial losses to local shopkeepers.Flames quickly spread across multiple shops and… pic.twitter.com/rqPNVUb0hp
Firefighting Operations at Kamran Chowrangi
Two fire engines and a Rescue 1122 team, accompanied by a fire truck and an ambulance, deployed to the site shortly after the alert. As the fire intensified and spread to an adjacent residential building, emergency responders extinguished the house fire before it caused further damage. The residents had already evacuated to safe areas, according to Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaan Ul Haseeb Khan.
Ultimately, six to eight fire tenders, including four KMC fire engines, a water bowser, and units from Rescue 1122, brought the blaze under control after approximately one and a half hours of effort, with cooling operations continuing until around 5am.
Traders count millions in losses as cause remains unknown
Traders stated that valuable furniture and stored goods worth millions of rupees were reduced to ashes, leaving local shopkeepers without their livelihoods within hours. CFO Khan noted that the exact cause of the fire could not be immediately ascertained.
Details timing and damage of the Karachi furniture market fire
What time did emergency responders arrive at the furniture market?
The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation fire brigade received the alert at 1:35am on Friday, and firemen reached the scene within 10 minutes.
Were there any injuries reported during the Gulistan-e-Jauhar fire?
No casualties or injuries were reported, as residents of the adjacent residential building had already evacuated to safer areas before the flames reached them.
How many shops and shanties were affected by the blaze?
The fire destroyed around 35 furniture shops and 10 to 12 nearby shanties, along with all the goods stored inside them.
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