ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Health and environmental experts warned on Thursday that the latest asphalt storage blaze in Erbil could pose health risks associated with hazardous gasses. A huge fire broke out at an asphalt storage facility in Erbil province late Wednesday. It took the firefighters around 20 hours to put it out. Dr. Mustafa Abbas, a general practitioner told Rudaw’s Luna Khalid that hazardous gasses emanating from the fire will cause various symptoms in the affected people such as coughing, dizziness, breath difficulty, decreased consciousness, and chest tightness. “People with pre-existing medical conditions… are especially vulnerable,” Abbas warned, urging them to use face masks and stay away from the affected area. Rebin Samad, an environmental and pollution expert, told Rudaw that burning asphalt releases hazardous gasses that cause various illnesses. He noted that the smoke could spread up to a 80 kilometers distance, explaining that it cannot be removed from air due to the need for specialized chemical and physical procedures currently unavailable in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. Civil defense spokesperson, Shakhawan Saeed, told reporters on Thursday that 150 firefighters were hard at work to extinguish the massive fire. Fourteen workers were injured, and four fire trucks were burned. There were no casualties, according to the spokesperson. Fire incidents are common in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. A fire broke out at an asphalt factory near Arbat town in the east of Sulaimani in October, killing one worker and injuring three others. According to data from the Kurdistan Region Police Directorate, a total of 7,546 fire incidents were recorded across the Region in 2022.
