In pictures: Fire destroys Sharjah warehouses

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, AUGUST 12, 2013. A fire rages through a car breaker/scrap yard of the Sharjah Industrial area located behing Sharjah City Center. Civil Defense work on dowsing the flames that spread to an adjacent furniture factory. When the blaze initially hit employees tried to save the inventory of the factory by carrying it out on the road. As the blaze spread this also caught fire. (ANTONIE ROBERTSON / The National) Journalist Yassin *** Local Caption *** AR_1208_Sharjah_Fire07.jpg

Police were called to move the men out of harm’s way. Antonie Robertson / The National

Firefighters battled for more than four hours yesterday to contain a blaze that destroyed three warehouses and a furniture store. Antonie Robertson / The National

“We called all our colleagues to run out of the premises and then we called the Civil Defence,� said Baseel Ali, who works in Al Zaeem warehouse. Antonie Robertson / The National

Firefighters from Dubai, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain joined crews from Sharjah Civil Defence to tackle the fire. Antonie Robertson / The National

The fire in the Sharjah industrial area started at two warehouses belonging to Al Zaeem Al Sham second-hand cars and spare parts before spreading to the Bab Al Hara spare-parts warehouse and the furniture store near by. Antonie Robertson / The National

The blaze started at about 10am and firefighters were still fighting the blaze after 2pm. Antonie Robertson / The National

“The presence of cars with oil as well as the burning of tyres escalated the blaze and facilitated it quickly spreading to neighbouring warehouses,� said Col Rashid Al Marri of Sharjah Civil Defence. Antonie Robertson / The National

No injuries or deaths were reported and the cause of the blaze is still under investigation. Antonie Robertson / The National

After bringing the blaze under control, firefighters remained at the scene for the rest of the day to cool the premises before handing the investigation over to CID officers. Antonie Robertson / The National

The incident also attracted dozens of workers from nearby businesses who gathered in large crowds to watch. Antonie Robertson / The National