Death of five persons, including the son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren of businessman and hotelier Satpal Singh at his palatial house on Cuttack Road, has once again raised questions about fire safety measures in buildings here.
Though it is not mandatory to install fire safety equipment at private houses having height of less than 15 meters according to the National Building Code of India, firemen said that having a few fire preventive measures such as smoke detection system and fire alarm could have proved useful in such situations.
“The house owner have spent lakhs of rupees on interior designing and woodwork, so he could have installed automatic fire detection system along with fire alarm that could have helped them detect the fire. Installation of fire safety measures at private houses will cost around Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh,” said fire personnel.
This is the third major fire mishap in the city within a month. Properties worth Rs 5 crore was gutted in a massive fire in a biscuit factory at Patia on July 10, while properties worth Rs 4 crore was destroyed after flames engulfed a sports showroom at Jayadev Vihar on July 26. However, no casualties were reported in both the incidents.
Fire officials had found fire safety loopholes in both the incidents. The directorate of factories and boilers had even shut down the biscuit factory as it had failed to come up with an onsite emergency plan to tackle incidents such as explosion, fire mishap and collapse of the structure.
A fire official said the arrangements for buildings covered under the National Buliding Code of India include automatic fire detection system and at least two staircases for evacuation process in case of any fire accident. Similarly there has to be enough space for the fire fighters to move around the buildings.
“If private house owners consult us for fire safety measures, we will definitely help them,” said the official.
They also said house owners should regularly inspect electrical appliances and wirings to avoid fire mishaps.
“Most of the times fire originate from short circuit in electrical appliances. Electrical appliances such as air-conditioners should be regularly inspected,” said deputy fire officer Ramesh Chandra Majhi.
Keep in mind
• Keep fire extinguisher in key areas such as bedrooms, kitchen and garage.
• Keep adequate ventilation system, including doors, windows and skylights
• Always turn off gas stove and LPG cylinder knob before leaving house and before going to bed
• Inspect electrical appliances and wirings on regular basis
• Don’t overload electrical circuit with use of too many appliances
• Don’t place extension wires under doormats and carpets
• Don’t throw cigarette butts in the house after smoking
• Don’t keep combustible materials near gas stoves and furnaces
Date:Aug 04, 2017