TWO major fires over the weekend in Rawalpindi raised questions about the adequacy of fire-safety measures in our buildings and also the level of preparedness of the twin cities' fire-fighting and rescue services in the event of simultaneous emergencies. In addition to the common deficiencies in fire-safety precautions plaguing many of our commercial complexes (the lack of proper fire exits and fire alarm systems for detection and warning of fire, overloaded and exposed electrical systems, lack of proper working access to buildings by fire-fighters etc.) the flames which destroyed Ghakkar Plaza and killed some 14 people, many of them fire-fighters, highlighted a new fire hazard in such buildings. This is the large number of diesel-powered electricity generators used to beat load-shedding and of which there were countless in Ghakkar Plaza which had well over 400 shops.

Barely able to cope properly with one major fire at any one time, the fire-fighting and rescue services in the twin cities were stretched to the limit over the weekend when they had to deal simultaneously with another fire at a godown in the Rawalpindi garrison workshop which broke out late Friday night several hours before the fire at Ghakkar Plaza. The godown fire was put out at about 5am early next morning which perhaps explains why the fire-fighting brigade from the Pakistan Ordnance Factory in Wah Cantonment was summoned to help in dealing with the Ghakkar Plaza fire. In fact, most if not all of the fire-fighters who died in the blaze were from the POF fire brigade. Whether the fire at Ghakkar Plaza could have been put out earlier and loss of life avoided if fire-fighters in the twin cities had not been busy with another blaze is anybody's guess. And whether the fires were coincidental accidents or deliberate acts of arson can only be determined by investigations into the incidents. No matter how the fires started, an examination of the performance of the various fire-fighting services and a review of their structures and interoperability are necessary to help Islamabad and Rawalpindi respond more efficiently in future to simultaneous emergencies, whether they be mere accidents or coordinated terrorist attacks.