India has seen a number of fires in commercial and residential buildings in recent times. The fire at a Delhi bed & breakfast on June 3 killed 23 people. Just weeks later, on June 23, a blaze in a Lucknow commercial complex killed 15 people.
These incidents have brought into focus the numerous fire safety gaps in India’s urban areas — including the absence of a culture of fire preparedness and the lack of institutional support in responding to an incident.
So what are the safety measures that are needed in buildings? Professor Virendra Kumar Paul, Director of the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, speaks to Shiny Varghese about how most building facades in India are magnets for disaster and why second staircases matter.
What type of fire considerations does one need to make for a mixed-use building?
In principle, fire safety measures must address the highest risk. Fire escape routes become the most important preventive measure. Keeping them free of any combustible material on wall panelling and storage along the corridors, non-combustible false ceilings, ensuring ventilation so that smoke does not enter escape corridors are critical basics.
In no case, smoke from escape corridors should enter stairwells, prevented by fire doors.
Instead of one big area, compartmentation with fire and smoke check measures reduce vulnerabilities. Situations become time-critical if the clear height between the false ceiling and the floor is less, in which case smoke will fill the entire space rather fast. Of course, installation of sprinklers is one of the most effective measures subject to proper installation and design.
In the Lucknow and Malviya Nagar fires, the building facades appear to have aggravated the fire multifold, leaving firefighting operations rather ineffective. Installation of multiple AC outdoor units, display boards, hoardings that use highly inflammable materials practically cover the entire facade. If fire-fighting access is mainly from one side, it is a cause for concern.
Building envelope involvement happens in two distinct ways. Flames leaping out of windows lead to fire breach through the external face of windows on upper floors. This leads to exponential spread of fire, typically jumping alternate floors which is very difficult to chase.
In another case, when the building facade itself begins to burn, then vertical external fire spread can be literally unstoppable. In such cases, falling and flying hot burning debris render ground level fire operations dangerous. If access for firefighting is only on one face of a building, firefighters may not be able to approach the facade as temperatures can be unsafe. Such situations are common in most towns and cities.
As reported in Lucknow, they couldn’t go down the stairs because the fire was coming from below and people were stuck on the first floor. In this case, either the staircase should have been well ventilated for smoke egress or a second staircase should have been provided. It was a residential building but when the same was to be used for a commercial purpose, a second or alternative staircase should have been provided which would have definitely saved lives.
How does compartmentation in design help prevent fire?
Compartmentation is the principle of dividing the entire floor area in smaller sections which can endure full blown fire for a period of, say, 30 minutes, one hour or two hours. In case a section can contain fire for, say, 45 minutes, then occupants will get more time to escape.
At the same time, external support can prevent the growth of fire. So, if we are able to divide one floor into three compartments with 45 minutes of endurance each, then a floor can sustain fire for 135 minutes, versus one floor going up in flames almost immediately.
This is an effective life safety approach and a well-established life safety measure.
What are the other safety measures that should be in place at time of occupation?
It is very important that preventive measures such as fire escape routes and compartmentation are not hampered. Without proper maintenance, fire-fighting systems will be completely ineffective.
Also, fire safety systems will only perform if the occupancy is not changed and new risks are not added, such as extra storage or using the building for other purposes than what was planned.
What are the points of weakness in high-density areas?
Access to firefighters is usually the weakest link. Fire vehicles find it hugely challenging to manoeuvre their way around so they can arrive in time before the fire has matured to the “flash over” — where flames spread beyond the site of fire.
Not to forget the impediments of streetside parking and encroachments.
Often, this is neglected within residential areas. Normally, six metres is the minimum space required but additional space is required for a variety of operations during a fire incident on a public street. Any street less than nine metres wide is a problem.
When renovations are done to interiors what do people need to keep in mind?
Ensure that combustible materials are correctly assessed and fire detection, alarm and fighting installations are consistent. During renovations, plan responsibly, giving priority to safety by providing fire escapes.
Use of materials in interior finishing is very important. Curtains and wall cladding contribute significantly to the spread of fire. In particular, wall panelling materials should always be fire retardant and smokeless.
In 2017, the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in the UK saw a massive fire. The fire regulations were strengthened after that. Do we need to get better implementation of our fire safety laws?
Grenfell was a typical “building envelope fire disaster”. In India, we need to take this seriously.
Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) affixes the demolition notice for the building where a massive fire broke out at a coaching centre in the Aliganj area (ANI Photo) 
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