Civil defense teams managed to extinguish the fire, according to Rudaw’s reporter on the ground. Preliminary reports from the civil defense and eyewitness accounts indicate that the fire started from dried shrubs and spread towards the factory.
After reaching the fuel tank of a mixer, the fire grew and spread to the other concrete mixer trucks that were parked next to each other.
“There have been no injuries, but four trucks have completely burned down, and one or two others were damaged,” Rudaw’s Bakhtiyar Qadir reported.
Fires are a perennial concern in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region where safety standards are often lacking. They are especially frequent in the summertime, with the scorching summer heat increasing risks of fires breaking out.
A massive fire in Hasil village, southern Sulaimani province, killed around 300 livestock on Sunday. Strong winds spread the blaze, causing over $90,000 in damages to three families.
Friday's fire was the third within two days in Erbil.
On Wednesday, a blaze in an asphalt storage facility in Erbil province was controlled after 20 hours. The fire, on Erbil-Gwer road, injured 14 workers and destroyed four fire trucks. No casualties were reported. And on Thursday, the top of an unfinished residential build in western Erbil caught fire without causing casualties.
Safety standards are also often ignored in the country, and buildings lack adequate fire extinguishers and emergency facilities such as evacuation routes.
