Top official gives National Paints full safety grade

A day after a massive fire destroyed four warehouses of National Paints, the Emergency Inspection Committee, formed by the Ruler of Sharjah to prevent such fires, said on Wednesday that the report of the latest inspection on the company premises showed all safety measures were in place.

Harib Al Tunaji, general secretary of the high-power committee, told Khaleej Times, “National Paints is one of the model companies that abide by safety rules and regulations. There had been no report of violation of any safety norms against the company in the last two years.”

The last inspection also showed that all safety equipment were in place and functioning perfectly.

Meanwhile, the cooling operations continued today also in the area along Emirates Road. Workers who were evacuated from their accommodation units on Tuesday after the fire broke out had to sleep in the open overnight.

Colonel Wahid Al Serkal, Director-General of Sharjah Civil Defence, said, “The cooling process started last night after completely extinguishing the fire and would continue for another two to three days.”

He said four different Civil Defence teams are monitoring the cooling process by turn to prevent another fire breaking out at the paint factory because of the highly inflammable materials stored inside.

After the cooling process, the premises would be handed to the security personnel who are investigating the causes of the fire.

“The two persons who were injured on Tuesday are fine now. We thank them for their role in putting out the fire.”

He said the burnt car was involved in battling the fire from the start and had moved so close that it also caught fire.

He commended the work of the firefighters who managed to prevent the fire from spreading to another warehouse which was full of inflammable materials. Four warehouses caught fire. Only one could be saved from total destruction.

Nadir Tawfeeq Al Gadoomi, director-general of Al Buhaira Insurance Company that insured National Paints, said, “The preliminary report shows that 25 per cent of the goods and properties of the company were completely destroyed. We will be able to determine the total loss of the company in 15 days.”

After receiving all investigation and forensic reports from the Sharjah Police, the reporting committee will start work on the estimation of the loss.

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com