Thick black smoke clawed at the sky last week over the industrial zone in Pakistan's largest city as firefighter Syeda Masooma Zaidi raced toward the raging blaze in Karachi.
The storage facility was packed with truck and car tires, and the flames leapt hungrily, black plumes twisting skyward. Heat shimmered off the asphalt, turning the air heavy and acrid, stinging her eyes and lungs.
