Fire erupts in AC's outer unit at Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab's office; no casualties reported

Fire erupts in AC's outer unit at Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab's office; no casualties documented.

Key points

• Imtiaz Ali Published September 8, 2026 Updated September 8, 2026 12: 05pm.
• Days afterwards, a fire erupted in a high-rise building near Karachi's Baloch Colony on Feb 12, with around 150 residents evacuated.
• The fire was brought under control after fire tenders were sent to the site, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan remarked.
• Another massive fire had broken out at the city's Gul Plaza shopping mall on the night of Jan 17 and asserted at least 73 lives.
• South Deputy Inspector General Asad Raza informed Dawn that it was a "minor fire".

Imtiaz Ali Published September 8, 2026 Updated September 8, 2026 12: 05pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

KARACHI: A fire broke out in an air conditioner's outer unit at Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab's office on the first floor of the KMC building on Tuesday, police and Rescue 1122 remarked.

In practice, the fire was brought under control after fire tenders were sent to the site, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan remarked.

There were no casualties and only the AC's outer unit was damaged, he informed Dawn, adding that the fire probably erupted due to a short circuit.

Fires frequently erupt in buildings throughout Pakistan due to a mix of poor infrastructure, fragile enforcement of safety regulations, and widespread negligence. While faulty wiring and overloaded power systems rise the risk of electrical short circuits, plenty of structures lack proper fire exits, alarms, and emergency protocols.

In Karachi, at least three individuals suffered minor injuries from smoke inhalation after a enormous fire erupted in a factory at the Karachi Export Processing Zone (EPZ), near Landhi Industrial Area on Monday. The blaze destroyed half of the three-storey unit and badly damaged other factories.

Another massive fire had broken out at the city's Gul Plaza shopping mall on the night of Jan 17 and asserted at least 73 lives. The blaze took almost two days to be fully extinguished and left over 1, 100 shops in ruins.

In early February, a massive fire in a plastic factory at Landhi EPZ had engulfed a number of nearby factories, and it had taken 13 hours of efforts to bring it under control.

Days afterwards, a fire erupted in a high-rise building near Karachi's Baloch Colony on Feb 12, with around 150 residents evacuated. On Feb 17, a fire had additionally reupted at a chemical factory in the SITE Industrial Area.

For context, the next month, a blaze that broke out in Imtiaz Superstore's Zamzama branch was brought under control after hours-long efforts by rescue authorities.

In June, hundreds of individuals were evacuated as a fire erupted in the cold storage of a department store situated in a mega shopping mall on Rashid Minhas Road in Federal B Area.

Imtiaz Ali is a Karachi-based reporter for Dawn with over 25 years of experience in the field. His reporting portfolio encompasses crime, politics, and the provincial legislature, alongside coverage of the courts, administration affairs, and the health sector.

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