Similarly, fires in departmental stores in Lahore have resulted in colossal losses to the tune of more than Rs1 billion. The fire has not spared lives of common citizens also. Eight residents died in an apartment in Karachi, two children got burnt due to a lighted incense stick (agarbatti) that dropped on cloth and caught fire while 29 people died in a gas explosion in Lahore.
These are the major happenings that have been reported in front pages of newspapers; other smaller incidents go unnoticed.
Cotton and human resource are our national assets and running of business without interruption helps the economy grow. Observing these events very closely, it appears that these could have been avoided or at least minimized to a great extent, if proper preventive measures were in place.
The usual cause of large fire loss in cotton bales is due to improper packing of cotton bales. Sub-standard hoops are used which result in breaking of the bales. Spread of cotton lint in and around stacks of cotton transmits fire from one stack to another and it also becomes very difficult to fight a fire under such circumstances. To accommodate more cotton bales the distances between stacks are not maintained which is also a cause of spread resulting into a big fire.
It is also seen that the quantity of water available to fight fire is either not available; if available, it does not have adequate pressure to fight the fire. In case fire brigade is situated at a distance, this is of extreme importance. A trained fire fighting team should always be present to attend to any emergency. In case of an emergency fire tenders should be able to get to the place with greatest amount of ease.
Time is of essence. Fire may be controlled in initial stages. If it gets out of control then one can only wait for it to get extinguished on its own. Un-manned areas or places that are kept locked at night e.g. the case of departmental stores, must be provided with smoke detectors for emergency warning. Development work, although good for the public, may become a problem if not planned well.
Provisions must be kept for emergency approaches. General public may be prevented from using these openings by putting up a rope which can easily be broken in case of an emergency. This need was felt in the recent apartment fire in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The entrance of the apartment building posed a further delay as it was not big enough to accommodate a fire tender.
If one visits any of our well known markets including Hyderi, Tariq Road, Bohri Bazaar, Meena Bazaar, etc., he can see a bunch of electric wires crossing each other along with telephone wires, all in the open. Any short-circuiting in these wires may result into loss of property and human life. With hardly any room to walk, not to talk of a proper fire exit, there is bound to be a colossal loss.
Loss of property and human lives can be avoided if proper safety measures are adopted. To avoid spread of loss, housekeeping should be improved upon. The packing of cotton bales may be enhanced by adopting packing as per international standards.
Wiring and electrical fittings in factories, markets, shops and houses be in conduits and may not be close to gas pipe lines. They should not cross each other and cleaning must be done on daily basis. Proper wires should be used as per load requirement.
Since we can not do anything with the buildings already constructed, the new building plans may not be approved unless provided with proper fire exits and space enough for a fire fighting operation to be conducted without any hindrance. Development work should be undertaken keeping in mind the emergency operations, when needed. They should not be allowed to hinder approach to a particular place where fire has occurred.
Commercial operations involving gas and chemicals should not be allowed to operate in residential areas. This poses a great danger to the public at large. They should be shifted either to the designated industrial areas or outside the city limits so that accidents, if any, may not result in loss of life to innocent people.
The public should be made aware of the above narrated hazards. They should keep an eye on the activities taking place around them and advise the involved person of the consequences these may result into.
We have now entered into the 21st century. We need to change ourselves for the betterment of our future. The assets saved today can be better utilized tomorrow.