Dubai - WAM
A foam warehouse went up in flames early in the afternoon on Thursday in Dubai's Sonapur area. Fire fighters from several stations worked to put out the flames.
No injuries have been reported.
Mahmood Hamad, spokesperson of Dubai Civil Defence, told Gulf News the fire broke out at about 12.30pm and sent a plume of black smoke which could be seen for kilometres.
The blaze created traffic chaos in the area.
Firemen and civil defence personnel from Al Rashidya and Al Qusais police officers rushed to the scene in a multi-unit response to douse the flames.
Police patrols, ambulance and rescue teams joined them in the fire-fighting operation. The police cordoned off the area and civil defence officers evacuated the warehouse as the blaze was being contained.
Fire-fighters were still battling the blaze at 5.30pm as cooling operations continued to completely extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading.
At 8pm, the spokesperson said the fire has been extinguished and their teams are working to cool the site.
The site was handed over to police to investigate the fire.
As thick black smoke billowed in the area due to the flammable materials inside the facility, long queues of traffic could be seen on both side of the Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road.
People on the opposite side of the road were also slowing down to see the fire, leading to further traffic chaos.
Dubai Civil Defence urged motorists to use alternative roads and not slow down to watch the fire which caused traffic chaos.
The spokesman of Dubai civil defence termed the fire as "moderate fire accident".