SOME IMPORTANT TIPS ABOUT FIRE SAFETY.

THE BEST TIME TO DEAL WITH A FIRE ACCIDENT IS BEFORE IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS

Amitabh Roy

When fire engulfs closed premises, the first casualties of those caught in it are their rational and logical faculties. Panic sets in, visibility is poor and in some cases, electricity fails and darkness and smoke are all that are visible to the hapless people trapped within. There may be a fire extinguisher at hand but even that will not be visible and accessible if there are no markers or lighting sources to make it visible in the dark and smoky environment. There is no time for trial and error as death and suffocation are minutes or even seconds away. Hence, my humble submission that the only best time to deal with a fire accident is BEFORE IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS.

Fire accidents are almost routine nowadays. Every day in the news we read about a hospital catching fire here and a high-rise catching fire there or a restaurant going up in flames somewhere. We casually turn the page with a customary “tsk-tsk’ and life goes on. But life will never go on in the same way either for those who succumbed or those who were grievously injured and many others too.

The ‘others’ that I speak of include those who suffered monetary losses, those who lost their livelihood and those who lost their credibility. But along with that there are some who perhaps believed that they would never come to harm if a fire happens at a particular premises. This group may include the architect who designed the premises, the owner who purchased the premises, the fire official who gave an NOC without taking care to ensure whether the certificate was deserved or not, and a host of civic personnel who may have indirectly added some fuel to the fire which ultimately gutted the place.

In recent times, there has been rapid growth in the construction of buildings-commercial as well as residential- but due to poor planning, slipshod and casual approach to laws and norms these have become huge fire hazards with accidents just waiting to happen.

Another big cause of fires is poor maintenance, repair and follow up actions on old constructions, dilapidated structures and temporary rural tenements commonly called jhuggi-jhopdis which are cheek to jowl hutments with the labour class families living there with gas connections and kerosene-fed cooking implements like stoves. Sometimes, these tenements mushroom bang in the middle of urban complexes and railway stations or airports. In Mumbai, Bandra has a huge jhuggi-jhopdi segment close to the railway station and already some very bad fire accidents have happened there in recent times.

FIRE SAFETY – CERTIFICATION, CLEARANCES, RULES AND NORMS

FIRE NOC or Fire clearance certificate is a No Objection Certificate indicating that a building or construction is designed as per the norms and regulations that it must have to avoid any hazardous accidents. It is issued by the Fire department of the respective state before the building construction.

To cite a classic example, a three-member committee probing the Kamala Mills Compound fire submitted its report in the Bombay High Court, listing the reasons that led to the tragedy on that fateful December 29   when 14 people had lost their lives in a devastating fire that gutted two restaurant/hotel premises. The panel probed if there was any violation of norms by the owners of the land or the restaurants, whether there was any dereliction of duty on the part of the civic body and government officials. 

The committee headed by Justice AV Savant, retired chief justice of Kerala High Court, submitted that corruption, violation of fire safety norms by owners of Kamala Mills Compound and the restaurants, babus and builders were some of the reasons for the tragedy. 

The report also blames Ramesh Gowani, the owner of Kamala Mills Compound, for violating NOCs granted for change of activity from the existing "office, to "restaurant". “There are a large number of conditions 'stipulated in the said NOCs, which have been blatantly violated by him,” the report said. 

This was a test case which set off a domino effect whereby raids, demolitions and crackdowns happened on establishments across states throughout India. The country was forced to get more serious on fire safety and the new normal is far more serious for those who thought that the ‘chalta hai’ model would last forever.

Here are some of the findings of the committee: 

1. The restaurant was running a hooka parlour illegally. 

2. Without any safety, stunts were being performed with fire at the restaurant.

3. Three no-objection-certificate (NOC) required to the run the restaurants were not taken. These NOCs were to be provided by BMC's fire department.

4. The report has also named three officers of the excise department for dereliction of duty.

5. The interior designer of the restaurant has also been blamed as the place was designed without an emergency exit. 

6. Charcoal was being used in the restaurant and the electrical system was not proper. 

7. Specified width was not maintained at the entrance of the two restaurants.

8. There were obstructions on the way to the staircase to go down.

9. The partition illegally put up on the terrace dividing the areas of the two restaurants was not fire proof.

10. The escape routes/exits in case of fire were not highlighted.

11. Smoking and service of Hookah was being permitted on the terrace.

12. The staff was not at all trained for dealing with any emergency or fire rescue operations.

13. There were no fire extinguishers, sand buckets, smoke detectors, hooters, sirens ("fire safety measures") provided anywhere on the terrace.

WHAT WOULD CONSTITUTE BEST SAFETY MEASURES AGAINST FIRE ACCIDENTS IN CLOSED PREMISES?

Let us begin by conceding that accidents are called thus because they happen without warning and they may, or may not always be due to human error. However, statistics would show that in most cases, negligence and human error cause accidents and everyone gets wiser after the damage is done.

To minimize accidents and limit damage due to fire, we have a building code that spells out precautions and steps that need to be taken right at the construction stage and thereafter. We have a fire department in every state in the country which takes measures to educate and train common people on how to firstly prevent, and thereafter deal with fire accidents if at all they occur. Housing societies, common people, shops, hotels and business houses would all be well advised to find time and participate in these programmes and learn about the laws and norms of fire prevention and fire fighting.

The tendency of being ‘Penny wise and pound foolish’ should be shunned and any builder, premise owner should invest in fire extinguishers, emergency lights, safety signages as mandated by the civic authorities concerned, first aid kits and related paraphernalia to ensure safe exigency in case of fire.

If you are not a fire victim, thank the lord and listen to wise counsel. This will ensure that you will most likely not be a fire victim all your life. But your responsibility doesn’t end there. You owe it to share your wisdom with others so that they too can observe best practices in fire safety to build a safer locality and by extension, a safer country. You owe it to yourself and believe me, your time starts NOW.

 

 

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