Twenty-one vehicles and 85 firemen were deployed to tackle an inferno that ripped through a scrapyard in Askar yesterday.
Flames engulfed scrap vehicles and plastic waste as well as spread across wooden cabins and other debris.
The blaze was so intense that black trails of smoke continued to billow into the sky for more than six hours and the thick plumes could be seen from as far away as Sitra, 23km in the distance. No-one was injured in the incident.
The scorching summer heat made tackling the blaze challenging and the GDN was close to the scene as the Civil Defence Hazmat Unit arrived to bravely attempt to get it under control.
General Directorate of Civil Defence director general Brigadier Ali Muhammad Al Hutai said the main operations room received report of a fire at 12.48pm.
“Eighty-five officers and 21 vehicles were deployed in minutes and they began operations to control the blaze and stop it from spreading to neighbouring areas,” he said in a statement last night.
“The fire was put out and no one was injured.
“Investigations are on to find out the cause.”
A Bahraini witness at the scene told the GDN that he noticed the billowing smoke after midday.
“There are scrap vehicles, parts of cars, wooden cabins and all kinds of debris in and around this scrapyard,” he said. “We don’t know what could have caused such a massive fire.
“There are many scrap vehicles lying around and the sun rays reflecting off glass in this scorching heat could easily have sparked this incident.
“It spread so quickly destroying everything.”
Meanwhile, Southern Municipal Council chairman Bader Al Tamimi told the GDN that the scrapyard has always been full of wrecked vehicles that had been involved in accidents and added that the area was also used for storing various materials, including electronics.
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