08:47 PM
Sunday 17 April 2022
Books – Muhammad Shaban:
When: the evening of the middle of the holy month of Ramadan
Venue: Al-Mansuriya Road, in the village of Abu Rawash, Kerdasa Center
The event: Plumes of smoke rose and flames rose meters away from the villa of leader Adel Imam
The people ran towards the source of the fire without waiting for the firefighters to arrive, only to discover that a huge fire had broken out in a “cigarette pod” in an empty plot of land in front of a cigarette store.
The people used manual fire extinguishers and water to trap the fire, but to no avail in light of the strong winds, so they decided to inform the police, who notified the civil protection operations room.
No sooner had Major General Jaber Bahaa, Director of the General Administration of Civil Protection in Giza, finished performing Tarawih prayers until he received a signal via the radio that does not leave him to push 8 fire engines and two strategic 35-ton water tanks led by his deputy, Major General Alaa Kholousi.
Examination revealed that the fire broke out in the yard of an unroofed warehouse surrounded by a wall, and the flames devoured the remains of cigarettes, which helped the strong winds to spread the flames from outside the store to its interior.
The fire spread to the warehouse over an area of 500 meters, causing charring of its entire contents (butts – peppers – cigarette papers), which were stored at a height of 6 meters.
120 minutes were needed by the civil defense men to confront the fires that were almost embracing the sky, in addition to the use of the forces’ loader belonging to the Kerdasa Center, to contribute to the extinguishing operations without human losses.
The cooling process was carried out to prevent the re-ignition of fire, so the initial examination suggested that the remains of a lit cigarette was the cause of the charring of the cigarette store.
Investigations supervised by Major General Assem Abu al-Khair, Deputy Director of Giza Investigation, concluded that “cigarettes” were intended to be packed inside “teddy bears,” and that the charred warehouse was not licensed, and its owner did not comply with the requirements of industrial security.
Mam Colonel Ali Abdel Karim, inspector of the Investigations Division of North October Division, the owner of the factory, Ahmed M., stated that he rented the store to a person called a believer residing in the Talbiya area, west of the governorate, to direct Major General Alaa Fathi to summon him to hear his statements.
The necessary legal measures were taken regarding the incident by informing Major General Alaa Farouk, Assistant Minister of Interior for the Giza Security Sector, and submitting to the Public Prosecution office to undertake investigations.