Fires in commercial buildings in Dhaka are often blamed on electrical short circuits. Sometimes they claim life; Other times they burn dreams. Entrepreneurs lose everything overnight, employees lose their livelihoods, and years of hard work go up in smoke – whether the fire is in Bailey Road, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, or Banani.
Suddenly a fire erupts. Thick black smoke is swallowing the sky. The sounds of sirens are heard on the streets. The smell of burnt material lingers in the air and time seems to stop for a moment. Yet within a few days the city returns to its normal rhythm as if nothing had happened.
Last month, a fire broke out in a commercial building on Road 12 in Banani. Not even a month had passed, the city had moved forward. Most people have only heard about fire. However, what remained largely unseen was how this incident suddenly exposed a silent crisis within Bangladesh’s fashion industry. It wasn’t just a building that burned down – it was years of investment, identity, aspiration and security built by some of the country’s most famous fashion brands.