SHARJAH // Fire destroyed a warehouse in the Sharjah Industrial Area yesterday, but no injuries were reported. "More than 30 workers were inside the premises when it got on fire, and all managed to escape unhurt," said Col Waheed Eisa al Serkal, head of Sharjah Civil Defence. Firefighters from Sharjah and Dubai fought the blaze at the Sharjah Ceramics Company warehouse for more than four hours, from yesterday morning into the afternoon.
Col al Serkal said the cause of the fire had not been determined; investigators from Sharjah Police were at the scene yesterday. No one from the company would comment. Col al Serkal said that Ajman Civil Defence firefighters had been called to fewer than 10 fires so far this summer, a figure that could partly be attributed to a fire safety campaign held last summer. "Almost all companies in Sharjah have now installed fire safety equipment. We have made it mandatory to all newcomers before getting their licence."
Col al Serkal said that because Sharjah's industrial area was the biggest in the country, in recent years the number of accidental industrial fires in the emirate had almost equalled those in the other emirates combined. "We are happy we have managed to control all this vast area," he said. "It is unbelievable but true." ykakande@thenational.ae
