A devastating fire broke out at a tannery warehouse owned by Phoenix Leather in the capital's Hazaribagh market area, where no fire safety measures had been implemented despite multiple warnings from the Fire Service.
Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, Director (Operations and Maintenance) of the Fire Service, informed reporters on Friday afternoon (January 17) that the absence of a safety plan made controlling the blaze extremely difficult. He confirmed that the Fire Service had previously issued several notices urging the building owner to enforce fire safety measures.
It took 12 units of the Fire Service, along with support from the army and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), nearly three hours to bring the fire under control by 4:50 pm.
While the exact cause and full extent of the damage remain unclear, initial reports suggest that stored chemicals in the leather warehouse may have fueled the fire.
