Fire breaks out in unfinished Erbil building

ERBIL — A fire broke out Saturday in an unfinished building on 100 Meter Street near the Empire residential complexes in Erbil, according to local officials.

The blaze occurred in a structure still under construction and filled with wooden materials used for the building’s framework. Firefighters from Erbil’s Civil Defense Directorate contained the fire with six response teams.

Shakhawan Saeed, spokesperson for the Civil Defense, told 964media that no injuries were reported. “The fire was brought under control in about 15 minutes,” he said, adding that the cause of the blaze remains unknown.

Material losses were reported, but the full extent of the damage has not yet been disclosed.

Between January and October 2024, the Erbil Civil Defense Directorate recorded 2,057 fire incidents. The leading cause was dry vegetation, which accounted for 842 of those cases. Fires during that period caused 46 deaths — 22 from burns and 24 from suffocation — and injured 89 people. Civil Defense teams rescued 56 individuals and 11 vehicles.