Challenges in Fire & Safety

In the past few days, fire accidents have ravaged many places in India. On 13th February 2023 in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district fire killed a mother daughter duo during an anti-encroachment demolition drive. In Zarkhand’s Dhanbad district on 31st January 2023, 14 people died in a massive fire at a multi-story building and on 28th January 2023, 6 people died in a massive fire at hospital. As per the report of Delhi Fire Service the national capital witnessed over 16500 fire related incidents that claimed 82 lives and more than 700 people injured in year 2022.

With a growing population, urbanization, and congestion, there is an urgent need for ensuring the safety of man and material. Fire accidents have been creating a huge loss to the property and manpower of the nation. Hence, there is a need to prevent such disasters from taking place and surveying the actual causes which lead to these accidents.

Need of the hour is to create awareness around the importance of fire & safety protocols to be followed no matter how small or big any premise is ! This should become part of your daily life and not only a subject one discusses at forums and forgets about it. Some of the key challenges are:

• There are not enough educational institutes who offer certified courses in fire & safety thereby training the masses about the importance of fire safety on a daily basis to protect lives and properties.

• There are various codes, standards, laws as well as guidelines chalked out to ensure prevention of fire incidents however non-implementation of them is a big challenge.

• There are no repercussions for the building owners or users for using substandard quality material or not maintaining the fire systems installed. The legal system is slow and this gives an easy pass to many for ignoring the importance of regular audits and maintenance of the fire equipment.

• The behavioral aspects of Indian citizens need to be changed from root levels. The moment any person steps in any building, restaurant, mall etc. he/she should be aware of fire exits, staircases, open areas and safe places around. Knowing your surroundings is very important for your own safety.

• Inadequate awareness leads to human negligence which is a major concern. The cause of a lot of fires are electric short circuits, gas leaks, kitchen fires, permanent closing of open areas/windows/balconies etc. These are the reasons which can be easily avoided only if disregards towards these things can be worked upon.

• First-aid and rescue training should be imparted to each person right from school days. The buildings must have fire alarms and in case of fire, people must know how to escape a fire to keep themselves safe.