I learned that Mingalar Market was on fire through a phone call after midnight on Saturday. I told my dad, who has a textile shop nearby. He looked worried and said we should get over there. I grabbed my camera equipment and joined him.
After a short cab ride from our home in nearby Mingalar Taung Nyunt township, we arrived on the scene. There was already a big crowd. Flames covered the top part of the market. My dad ran to his shop while I was allowed through the police line to take photographs.
I quickly realized that this was no small fire. Around me, people were either gazing silently at it or shouting crazily. Siren noises grew louder as more and more fire trucks arrived. An officer told me that Level 5, the most urgent response, had been issued.
There were explosions from the fourth floor as medicine, cosmetics and stationary products fed the flames. I was having trouble taking photos. I was having déjà vu. My thoughts drifted back to 2010, to the last fire at the same market.
It was later in the morning on May 24. My mom woke me up at home and asked me to help my dad. At the time, our shop was on the ground floor of the market and our apartment was a few hundred meters away.
We ran over. Security and people outside the compound tried to physically stop us from going in but my dad was desperate to save his materials and broke through. He sells cloth wholesale and had invested all his money in this business. I followed him.
Entering the compound and reaching the store, we stuffed material into big plastic bags. I remember how heavy they were as I brought them back to our apartment, where I dropped off the goods, turned around, went back the market, and did it all over again. This lasted for more than an hour, but we saved most of the merchandise.
That fire, which destroyed almost 900 shops and wounded 25 firefighters, took more than a day to get under control.
Mingalar Market, which opened in 1999 and is one of the biggest wholesale and retail shopping centers in the country, survived the 2010 fire, as it will survive this one.
But it left its scars.
My dad’s friend had a mental breakdown after he lost all of his property in 2010. I hope the same won’t happen to anyone this time, but with millions of dollars in damages and more than a 1,500 shops destroyed, I am not optimistic.
Aung Naing Soe is a multimedia reporter for Coconuts Yangon
