ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - As officials warn of an imminent and "abnormally high" heatwave with temperatures that could reach up to 50°C (122°F), an investigation by Rudaw Media Network's program "Lagal Ranj" has uncovered a lack of fire safety compliance in major residential and commercial buildings as well as the prevalence of counterfeit fire protection equipment.
Investigators in the talk show revealed that up to half of all major residential projects in the Kurdistan Region lack proper safety licenses. The investigation combined live studio demonstrations, field reports, and interviews with civil defense officials, engineers, and meteorologists, drawing attention to regulatory gaps, commercial greed, and a lack of public awareness.
Counterfeit Protection: Extinguishers Filled with Plaster
Rudaw’s investigation uncovered the prevalence of fake and substandard fire safety equipment in several residential and commercial buildings. In a field report, Engineer Luqman, a fire safety systems specialist, described a widespread practice in which traders import or fill fire extinguishers with inert substances such as gypsum plaster instead of the required chemical powder, simply to cut costs.
"Unfortunately, some traders in Iraq and Kurdistan are just focused on profit," Luqman stated. "To make the product cheaper, they reduce the concentration of the [monoammonium phosphate] powder which should be [in concentrations] between 40% and 80%, and mix in plaster. I myself have rejected shipments from Turkey because they contained plaster."
"We often see incidents where 20 or 30 extinguishers are used on a single car fire, yet not one of them works properly," Spokesperson for the Erbil Civil Defense First Lieutenant Shakhawan Saeed told Rudaw. "The reason is that they are either expired, filled with faulty materials, or their pressure gauges have been tampered with to show 'full' when they are empty."
Gaps in Safety Regulations: Residential Towers
The investigation also exposed a gap in safety regulations in the region's booming construction sector. According to First Lieutenant Saeed, a staggering number of buildings where thousands of families live are not equipped to handle a fire.
"I can say that 50% of the residential projects built do not have safety licenses or their systems are not robust," he revealed. "We have taken about 700 non-compliant sites in Erbil to court."
"Fire safety is not just about extinguishers; it's a complete package that includes building design, electrical systems, and public training,” said Shwan Kamal, head of the Kurdistan Occupational Safety Organization, highlighting the importance of fire prevention and response systems.
He told Rudaw that residential and commercial buildings lack basic, life-saving infrastructure, most notably automatic sprinkler systems, designed to control a fire in its initial stages.
"In the UAE last year, a 67-story tower with 4,000 residents caught fire, but everyone was evacuated safely. In contrast, a fire in a mall in Kut, Iraq, killed nearly 100 people," Kamal said.
Impending Heatwaves: Fuel to the Fire
Dr. Sleman Abdullah, a geography professor at Saladin University, warned that the region is due for an upcoming heatwave where “temperatures could reach 50°C or more," particularly in the region of Garmian, located in the Kurdistan Region’s south.
“It's crucial to understand that this is the temperature recorded in the shade,” Abdullah explained. “The 'feel-like' temperature in direct sunlight is 10 to 15 degrees higher, reaching around 65°C (149°F)."
Heatwaves significantly increase the risk of fires, particularly inside vehicles. Experts warned that leaving flammable or pressurized items such as lighters, perfume bottles, power banks, or mobile phones inside a parked car with temperatures of up to 80°C (176°F) could cause such items to explode.
A Call for Action and Awareness
While the findings were dire, the experts emphasized that greater regulation and public awareness could mitigate risks. They urged citizens to be proactive, demanding to see official fire safety licenses from building developers before purchasing property.
First Lieutenant Saeed called on every household to be equipped with certified ABC-type fire extinguishers and fire blankets, especially in kitchens. He stressed the importance of purchasing from trusted sources to avoid counterfeit products.
Lastly, he called for stricter government enforcement for quality control on imports and building codes and for developers to prioritize lives over profit.
