Major fires sweep Iraq, Kurdistan amid safety crackdown
Iraq's Civil Defense teams battled a series of major fires on Monday across three provinces, officials said.
In al-Sulaymaniyah, the kurdistan Region, a large fire broke out in several commercial warehouses along the main Arbat–al-Sulaymaniyah road, Civil Defense spokesperson Aram Ali told Shafaq News. Firefighters contained the blaze after more than two hours, reporting 'substantial material losses.'
In Basra, Civil Defense chief Maj. Gen. Mazen Mohammed Lafta confirmed that teams quickly extinguished a fire in a two-story building in the Yassin Khreibet area. The structure, which housed shops on the ground floor and a storage facility on the upper floor, had been previously closed for safety violations under Iraq's Civil Defense Law No. 44 of 2013. Lafta credited 'rapid response and professional coordination' for preventing the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.
Meanwhile, in Saladin, a truck caught fire on the Tikrit–Kirkuk highway near the Hamrin Mountains. Civil Defense teams managed to control the blaze and clear the roadway. Preliminary findings point to an electrical fault as the likely cause.
Authorities confirmed that no casualties were reported in any of the three incidents, though all caused significant property damage. Officials have launched formal investigations and urged businesses to comply with safety regulations to prevent future incidents.
The push for stricter enforcement has intensified since last month's catastrophic fire at the Corniche Hypermarket in Kut, Wasit province—a five-story complex that had opened only days earlier. The blaze killed 70 people and injured hundreds, prompting a nationwide review of commercial safety standards.
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