It took 30+ hours to extinguish the Gul Plaza fire. Last Saturday, as smoke billowed from one of Karachi’s busiest commercial hubs, the city watched a familiar tragedy unfold.1 The fire tenders ran out of water. The snorkel lift couldn’t navigate the narrow Saddar streets. By the time the cooling process ended on Monday morning, millions in inventory had turned to ash, and more importantly, we had lost lives that could have been saved.
The Gul Plaza incident isn’t an anomaly; it is a symptom of a collapsing system. In 2026, Pakistan’s emergency infrastructure is fighting a 21st-century battle with 19th-century tools.
This report analyzes the current capacity of our major cities and compares them to international standards to understand just how deep the rot goes.
1. The Karachi Crisis: A City of 20 Million, Protected by 20 Stations
Karachi is the epicenter of the crisis. As the economic engine of Pakistan, it is shockingly under-protected.
- The Gul Plaza Reality Check:During the Gul Plaza operation, the central fire station had to call for backups from the KPT and Pakistan Navy. Why? Because the city’s own municipal fleet was insufficient.
- The Numbers:According to the latest 2025 municipal data, Karachi—a sprawling megacity of over 20 million people—has only 22 functional Fire Stations.
- Operational Fire Tenders: Approx. 45-50 (Many are often out of order for repairs).
- Snorkels (High Rise Rescues): Less than 5 operational for a city dominated by high-rises.
- The Ratio: This means there is roughly 1 Fire Station for every 1 Million people. International safety standards recommend 1 station for every 50,000 to 100,000 people. Karachi is operating at 10% capacity.
2. The “Tale of Two Cities”: How Lahore & Punjab Are Different
While Karachi struggles with a fragmented system (KMC vs. Cantonments vs. DHA), Punjab offers a different picture thanks to Rescue 1122.
- The Rescue 1122 Model:Launched in 2004, this service has become the gold standard in South Asia.5 In 2025 alone, Rescue 1122 Punjab responded to over 2.5 million emergencies.6
- Lahore Stats:
- Response Time: The average ambulance response time in Lahore hovers around 7 minutes.
- Integration: Unlike Karachi, where the Ambulance (Edhi/Chhipa) and Fire Brigade are separate entities that often don’t talk to each other, Rescue 1122 integrates Fire, Ambulance, and Rescue under one command.
- The Gap: Even in Lahore, urban sprawl is outpacing resources. The service is now responding to huge volumes of traffic accidents (over 1,200 per day), straining their ambulance fleet.
3. The Capital & The Periphery (Islamabad, Quetta, Peshawar)
- Islamabad: The capital is relatively better equipped, with the MCI (Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad) running a dedicated Fire & Rescue wing. However, the expansion of high-rises in Sector E-11 and Gulberg has outpaced the CDA’s purchase of high-altitude snorkels.
- Peshawar: Since the extension of Rescue 1122 to KP, Peshawar has seen a massive improvement. They now have a dedicated “Motorbike Ambulance” service for narrow lanes, modeled after London and Lahore.7
- Quetta: The situation remains critical. The city relies heavily on a handful of fire tenders. In the event of a major disaster (like the 2024 hazara town fire), the response time can exceed 40 minutes due to a lack of decentralized stations.
4. The International Comparison: Pakistan vs. Turkey
To understand the gravity of our failure, we must compare Karachi not to New York or London, but to Istanbul—a fellow Muslim-majority megacity with similar population density (approx. 16 Million) and traffic chaos.
| Feature | Karachi, Pakistan | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Population | ~20+ Million | ~16 Million |
| Fire Stations | 22 | 134 |
| Fire Vehicles | ~50 | 901 |
| Total Staff | ~1,000 | 5,082 |
| Avg. Arrival Time | 25-40 Minutes (Traffic dependent) | 7 Minutes 02 Seconds |
| Water Supply | Relies on Hydrants (often dry) | Integrated City Hydrant System |
The Verdict: Istanbul has 6x more fire stations and 18x more vehicles than Karachi, despite having a smaller population.
Turkey treats emergency services as a matter of “Homeland Security.” Pakistan treats it as a municipal burden.
5. The “Water Mafia” Problem
The biggest finding of this report is not just the lack of trucks; it is the lack of Water.
In the Gul Plaza fire, fire tenders had to leave the scene to refill water because the nearby fire hydrants were either dry or illegally tapped by the tanker mafia.
- Kazakhstan Comparison: In cities like Almaty, fire hydrants are legally protected infrastructure. In Karachi, KWSB (Karachi Water & Sewerage Board) struggles to keep them functional. A fire truck without water is just a heavy truck.
Conclusion: What Needs to Happen?
The Gul Plaza fire will be investigated. A report will be published. But unless we change the structural math, the next fire will be just as deadly.
Three immediate steps are needed:
- De-Centralization: Karachi needs 100 “Mini Fire Stations” (a single truck parked in a neighborhood) rather than 20 massive stations that are stuck in traffic.
- The “1122” Standard: Sindh must fully empower and fund its version of Rescue 1122 to match Punjab’s efficiency, bypassing the bureaucratic red tape of the KMC.
- Hydrant Recovery: Emergency water points must be reclaimed from the tanker mafia and secured for fire use only.
Until we bridge the gap between 22 stations and 134 stations, we are simply waiting for the next spark to burn us down.