Firefighters try to control the major fire on the top floor of Punjab Financial Corporation office in Sector 17, Chandigarh. (Photo: Express Archive) Famina, one of the girls who survived the fire which took the lives of three girls in a paying guest accommodation in Sector 32, had told Newsline that the inmates of the PG accommodation along with their warden had helplessly watched the fire spread from a single mattress to enveloping the whole floor of the building. In the aftermath of the tragedy, city’s residents were fuming with anger over the abject conditions of PG accommodations and neglect of safety standards that led to the tragedy. “I feel very bad for the girls who died in the fire a few days ago. It is unfortunate that we take corrective steps only after we suffer. These tragedies should be prevented, not tackled. The most painful part is that we are now talking about fire safety because we lost some lives, otherwise this was not even an issue,” says Kartik Kapoor, a student and resident of Sector 23 in Chandigarh. There is no doubt that the blatant violation of safety norms and continuous neglect by the authorities led to the tragic death of three young girls at the PG accommodation in Sector 32. Since then, there have been knee-jerk reactions in the form of crackdowns on illegal PG accommodations leaving many young girls and boys without proper accommodation, and accelerated registration of PG accommodations. However, amidst all of this, what is missing is a discussion about risk analysis and disaster management, and the complete lack of awareness in common citizens regarding the measures to take in case they face such a disaster in the course of their life. Newsline takes a deeper look at the myriad causes that fuel an increasing number of fires and safety violations in the Tricity, along with the basic measures for disaster management that everyone should know in today’s times. Rising incidents of fire According to data recorded by the Chandigarh Fire and Emergency Service Department, a total of 1,750 calls were received by the department as of 2018, out of which the maximum number of calls came from houses, buildings and shops. “We received 300 calls for rescue from residential buildings or shops. Those are the most common types of fire that we usually deal with,” says Anil Garg, Chief Fire Officer for Chandigarh. Officials from the fire and emergency services department claim that they are yet to compile data on the type and incidents of fire that occurred in the city in 2019. Data also reveals that 296 calls made to the department were for electrical fires, 93 calls were for vehicular fires, 63 for fires caused by gas and oil leakage, and most of the rest of the calls were to do with forest fires and fires caused by mismanagement of waste disposal. “The most common kind of fires are the ones that occur due to electronics items and a short circuit,” says Naveen Kumar, fireman for Chandigarh’s fire and emergency department. From his experience, Kumar says electrical fires are becoming the most common forms of fires that have caused damage to houses, residential blocks, shops and buildings. “People overload circuits by loading one socket with too many devices, or they use faulty electrical appliances which lead to a lot of these fires,” says Kumar. The fireman adds that in case of fire like the one which was sparked off in the Sector 32 PG accommodation by a plugged-in charger, even though water could not be sprayed on the socket itself, it could be used to douse the fire that had claimed the mattress or other surrounding areas of the PG accommodation. Apart from this, in the month of February itself, there have been many serious incidents of fire in the Tricity. On February 13, a fire was recorded at a tailor’s house-cum-workshop in the Baapu Dham Colony area of Chandigarh. On the 19th, a fire broke out in a factory near Dera Bassi in Mohali injuring one worker employed at the factory. By the end of February, another fire broke out in the basement of Vishal Mega Mart in Mohali. Although none was injured, the fire reportedly caused a total loss worth Rs 7 lakh. Furthermore, in Panchkula, a total of 399 cases of fire were recorded between January 2019 and January 2020. Safety measures and fire NOCs As part of the administration’s crackdown on illegal PGs in the city, Chandigarh Deputy Commissioner Mandip Singh Brar recommended changes in the the policy for running PG accommodations in the city, including making no objection certificates (NOC) mandatory for registrations. Far from knowing what a fire NOC is or whether her PG accommodation owners have applied for one, Sumesha Kanwar, an incident of a PG accommodation in Sector 15, says that no one has ever discussed fire safety norms with her throughout her adult life. “There is no equipment or anything here, or a fire safety plan. All that I know is the little I remember from my disaster management class in primary school, and I don’t think that will help me much now,” Kanwar says. Apart from PG accommodations, a fire NOC has to be submitted by most commercial properties and residential buildings except for private property accommodating one or two families. These NOCs are basically a guarantee that these properties have all the equipment and facilities in place to prevent, and if need be, curtail potential fire breakouts. Furthermore, a regular audit of all these buildings needs to be conducted by the fire and emergency department of the city. In the past, such audits have revealed rampant flouting of fire safety rules and lack of fire NOCs in many commercial dwellings, leaving room for more such incidents to occur. Coaching centres in the city, which have mushroomed in cramped narrow spaces on the higher floors of haphazardly constructed buildings, have been found to be violating many fire norms. “There have been audits conducted and coaching centres marked, but even if we shut down a few, many others crop up with the same situation again,” says a source in the administration. Anil Garg, the Chief Fire Officer for UT, also claims that regular audits are conducted by the department. Still, reports of coaching centres found without fire extinguishers, narrow passages and restricted space for escape, along with electrical boards placed close to entrance have been found across the city. “No one cares about things like that, safety and all. We just want to make sure we get our money’s worth and get out of there,” says Kanika, a student who attends coaching classes in the city. Fire safety is also another concern when it comes to unrecognised schools in the city, because most of these are yet to submit a fire NOC and lack the infrastructural provisions required to make a school completely fire-safe. “I just hope they don’t compromise on fire safety norms,” says Nitin Goyal from the Chandigarh Parents’ Association. Goyal also adds that most of these schools are placed in inaccessible nooks, where even a fire truck won’t easily reach. However, V B Kapil from the Rural Education Welfare Association claims that most of these unrecognised schools of the city are already working to ensure that they fulfil all requirements for a fire NOC. “They already have the fire extinguishers. They just need to ensure that the hose system and the automatic sprinkler system are set,” claims Kapil. Apart from that, schools and most other buildings need automatic sprinklers, high- capacity terrace tanks, emulsifiers and proper detection and alarm systems. Schools also need to have a proper evacuation plan with its students versed in a fire drill. Awareness and action plan While waiting for the authorities to ensure that safety measures are taken by all buildings and property owners might seem like a distant dream, citizens can meanwhile learn to equip themselves with the right tools to fight potential fires. According to fireman Naveen Kumar, apart from short circuits, the biggest causes for household fires are leakage of cooking gas due to faulty LPG cylinders and improper disposal of cigarette butts. “The best measure we can take is to at least have one ABC type fire extinguisher in the house. The A type is for general fires, B for oil-based fires and C for gas-based fires. This can also be used for electrical fires, otherwise there is a CO2 type cylinder specifically for electrical fires,” claims Kumar. The fireman also stresses having a set evacuation route and discussing it with all members of the household, especially young children. “In case of gas leakage, do not under any condition operate any switch in the house,” says Kumar. Operating switches might lead to a spark which would instantly ignite the gas accumulated in the house on fire. “Gas from these cylinders is very heavy. It will not dissipate easily and hang thick in the air, so one has to make sure not to operate any electrical appliance and switch,” explains Kumar. He also advises people not to store extra LPG cylinders in the house which could potentially blast and add to the fire, and recommends using only ISI-marked electrical appliances, as sub-standard appliances can lead to major electrical fires in the house. Going back to electrical fires, firefighters recommend having a miniature circuit breaker (MCB) installed in the house, which will automatically shut down electricity in the house in case of short circuit. “The MCB will mostly safeguard us from an electrical fire, and if a fire still breaks out and if we don’t have a cylinder, one can throw sand at the source of the electrical fire. If the fire has spread to other parts, one can throw water on it as well because the electricity will already have been shut down,” Kumar adds. However, when things do seem to go out of control despite taking all the measures you could, Kumar advises that you quickly call 112, which is the standard emergency helpline through which one can avail the service of our firefighters. “Just call us and quickly exit the house, making way for us to do our job,” says Kumar. Furthermore, in case the exit route is also blocked by fire and congested with smoke, Kumar recommends wrapping one’s head with a wet cloth and crawling on the floor. “Smoke rises up, so most of the normal atmospheric air will be closer to the ground,” explains the fireman. In Kumar’s experience, although many children seem to be aware of the norms and measure for fire prevention, most adults remain quite ignorant about managing such a disaster. “Perhaps if we all educate ourselves, we could save so many more lives,” says the fireman.
