KARACHI: A fire broke out in an air conditioner’s outer unit at Mayor Murtaza Wahab’s office on the first floor of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) building on Tuesday, officials said.

South Deputy Inspector General Asad Raza told Dawn that it was a “minor fire”.

There were no casualties, and fire tenders dispatched to the site brought the fire under control, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan said.

Mayor Wahab, speaking to the media outside his damaged office, said a “spark occurred at around 9:15am”.

“Whether it was a short circuit or something related to the AC, all aspects are being looked into,” he added, noting that wooden objects and a false ceiling further aggravated the fire.

“There was no loss of life. The furniture in the room was damaged, but because of the timely action, my chamber, which is adjacent to the room, was protected, and the conference room was also kept safe,” Wahab said.

“My room has been completely gutted by the fire, and all the furniture has been destroyed,” he added, clarifying that there were no records or files in his room.

“Files only come to me for signatures; I sign and pass orders on them, after which they are sent to the relevant department. If there are any files with me at all, they are only those on which my signature is pending,” he said.

The mayor highlighted that the KMC staff immediately called the fire brigade and the fire team succeeded in confining the blaze to his room.

“Once the area has been cleared, our fire team will properly inspect it, and whatever details emerge will be shared with you,” he said.

“If anyone thinks that I will stop working or will not come to the office, that is not the case. I have come to the office today and will continue working from another room. I will also continue making my field visits as usual,” the mayor affirmed.

Wahab further said that another fire had broken out at Kareem Plaza this morning, where the rescue team took timely action to extinguish the fire.

Frequent fires

Fires frequently erupt in buildings across Pakistan due to a mix of poor infrastructure, weak enforcement of safety regulations, and widespread negligence. Many structures lack proper fire exits, alarms, and emergency protocols, while faulty wiring and overloaded power systems increase the risk of electrical short circuits.

In Karachi, at least three people suffered minor injuries from smoke inhalation after a huge fire erupted in a factory at the Karachi Export Processing Zone (EPZ), near Landhi Industrial Area on Monday. The blaze destroyed half of the three-storey unit and badly damaged other factories.

Another massive fire had broken out at the city’s Gul Plaza shopping mall on the night of Jan 17 and claimed at least 73 lives. The blaze took nearly two days to be fully extinguished and left over 1,100 shops in ruins.

In early February, a massive fire in a plastic factory at Landhi EPZ engulfed several nearby factories, and it took 13 hours of efforts to bring it under control.

Days later, a fire erupted in a high-rise building near Karachi’s Baloch Colony on Feb 12, with around 150 people evacuated. On Feb 17, a fire had also erupted at a chemical factory in the SITE Industrial Area.

The next month, a blaze that broke out in Imtiaz Superstore’s Zamzama branch was brought under control after hours-long efforts by rescue officials.

In June, hundreds of people were evacuated as a fire erupted in the cold storage of a department store situated in a mega shopping mall on Rashid Minhas Road in Federal B Area.