Firefighters brought a fire under control at a furniture market near Kamran Chowrangi in Gulistan-e-Johar on Friday after flames spread to a nearby residential building, officials said.

Four fire tenders and a water bowser took part in the operation, according to fire brigade officials. After controlling the main blaze, firefighters began cooling operations to prevent the fire from reigniting.

The fire also spread to an adjoining residential building. Rescue 1122 said teams brought the blaze under control there as well.

Chief Fire Officer Humayun Khan confirmed that no casualties had been reported. Speaking to the media after the operation, he said firefighters had used four fire tenders and a water bowser to extinguish the fire.

Officials had not established the cause of the incident or the extent of the financial losses.

Shopkeeper Claims Losses Worth Crores

A shopkeeper, Asghar, told the media that the market contained around 20 shops and claimed the fire had caused losses worth crores of rupees.

He said someone reported the fire to the Karachi Police Madadgar-15 helpline. However, he claimed firefighters arrived around 15 to 20 minutes after the call, by which time the flames had spread across the market.

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Asghar also said the market had experienced a fire last year. He added that traders had established their shops on a commercial plot.

The same market suffered a major fire on December 31, 2024. Geo News reported at the time that flames destroyed more than 30 shops. Officials had not determined the cause of that incident either.

No casualties were reported in the 2024 fire.

Gul Plaza Fire Prompts Renewed Safety Measures

The deadly Gul Plaza fire in January 2026 brought fire safety arrangements in Karachi’s commercial buildings under renewed scrutiny.

Following the incident, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah ordered a province-wide fire safety audit of major government, private and commercial buildings.

During the same meeting, he approved the resumption of annual safety inspections of commercial buildings, which had stopped several years earlier.

An earlier audit by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) found that 90% of the buildings surveyed in Karachi’s eastern, central and southern districts lacked fire-safety arrangements.

The authority issued notices to more than 300 building owners and warned that officials could seal buildings if owners failed to install the required safety measures.

In February 2026, the district administration also sealed two major commercial buildings in Saddar for violating fire safety regulations.