Fire disasters are catastrophic but avoidable

The massive disturbances inflicted upon nature by humans have resulted in the event called Climate Change. There is general agreement among scientists that many regions across the world have and will continue to experience more fire-conducive climate due to climate change, which will create drier and warmer weather conditions. This trend is already visible in many regions. In addition, occurrences of industrial fires have become more frequent

Pooja UPadhyay | Trainee Reporter

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ire is a natural phenomenon that has contributed to shaping the Earth’s biosphere for the past 400 million years. Expanding human footprint has been bringing more ignitions, thereby increasing fires resulting in greater community vulnerability towards fire hazards. 24x7 media coverage over the past few years has informed the whole world about the catastrophic forest fires in Australia, Brazil, and the United States of America. After wildfires, industrial fires have emerged having catastrophic outcomes. Fire in a New Delhi factory in December 2019 is one such example. Fire is an uncontrollable element that can never be tamed. If not managed carefully, the element providing light and warmth can burn anyone and anything to ashes in a matter of seconds. Presently, human activities have been found to be responsible for most fires, up to 99 per cent of the fire incidents in many regions.

Wildfires

As of the first week of August 2021, over 42,000 people in California were forced to flee their homes because nine large wildfires in the state continue to burn out of control. The Dixie fire,

which reportedly started on July 14, 2021, is the second-largest fire in California’s history and has now been burning for over a month. A United Nations report on climate change, released on August 9 referring to the fires in California, said that it is visible that the planet is not coping well with the human influences on its climate and that the situation is bound to worsen. Wildfires still raging in Turkey have been described as the worst in at least a decade. The temperature in the land around the Mediterranean Sea has soared to over 50 degrees Celsius and residents in countries including Greece, Italy, and Turkey have been evacuated. A sparsely inhabited region in the northeast of Russia is trying to cope with wildfires that have already broken annual records of fire-related greenhouse gas emissions. Catastrophic bushfires in Australia in 2019 did not come as much of a shock, as did the wildfire in the Amazon rainforest. Unlike usual bushfires in Australia, the one that had emerged at the end of September 2019 went on raging and destroying everything that came in its way till February 2020. More than 12 million hectares of land were burned, thousands of structures were destroyed, and at least 33 people and over 1 billion animals were killed. Prolonged drought, increased temperatures, and strong winds, most being a result of climate change, intensified the bushfire that went on for months. The Amazon rainforest, unable to adapt to the fire, fell victime to the wrath of fire disaster in 2019. Scientists cited a sharp rise in deforestation in the name of development and demand for land as the reason behind the fire catastrophe in the rainforest.

Industrial fires

Increased industrial activity, new raw materials, many combustible, and some unsafe practices are adding to workplace risks including those of fire and explosions. Such events are now common in our cities and some result in loss of lives and property. It is the responsibility of factory owners, builders, contractors, and architects to create safe industrial infrastructure and put in place recommended safety measures including fire prevention and fire protection systems; but the increasing number of fire-related disasters in industrial spaces shows lack of preparedness. A gas leak from an underwater pipeline in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula resulted in a fire on the ocean surface in July 2021. No injuries were reported but the harm inflicted on the ocean, its marine life, and increased carbon footprint remains uncounted and irreversible. It brought to light the weak regulations and enforcement methods in place. In India, blatant disregard for fire safety measures is a major cause of workplace fires. Fire at a factory building in Anaj Mandi in Delhi in 2019 highlighted major gaps in the planning of urban areas and fire safety measures in place. The Delhi Fire Services had reached the location within five minutes of the call but was unable to get in for a long time because of the congestion, narrow lanes, and blockades. The building used to hold a workshop for the production of school bags and shoes, and the local police chief had stated that the building lacked a proper fire license, and its use as a factory was illegal.

How to avoid the endless burn

One cannot avoid floods or earthquakes or landslides from occurring, but industrial fire and the resulting destruction can be avoided with proper safety measures. Lack of adequate urban planning creates additional issues like densification of areas, non-compliant use of properties, on-street parking leading to local traffic congestion, greatly restricting movement of fire tenders during firefighting operations. A majority of industrial fires occurs at places with non-compliant construction; lack of precautionary maintenance like the upkeep of extinguishers, locked fire doors, material stored in fire exits, no marking of fire exits and absence of refuge/assembly areas. Gross disregard for safety procedures such as evacuation drills and safe work procedures, and improper storage of inflammable material can be found everywhere. Cities are the hubs of manufacturing and industrial activity and thus are highly prone to industrial fires. Increasing fire incidents in factories and buildings calls for cities to make themselves ‘smarter’ in terms of avoiding fire-related disasters. The Smart City Mission has the potential to change the whole mien of a city by making it manyfold safer by the stricter and organized implementation of the National Building Code (NBC) of India 2016. Indian smart cities are trying to become more socially inclusive, technologically smart, and eco-friendly. Industrial fires pose a big threat to not only property and structures, but also lives and the environment.

We have seen the dramatic and disastrous outcomes of human activity in the cases of wildfires. Complete disregard for the environment while pursuing an unsustainable development agenda has destroyed large parts of the forest and wildlife ecosystem and put many more in grave danger. This could have irreversible consequences for life of this planet and compromise the well-being of generations to come. Similarly, human negligence and complete disregard for safety, whether relating to building construction practices or workplace systems in factories and industries, puts many lives in danger and has potential for great damage to property. Sadly, in our cities, by such negligence of citizens, the lives of our valiant firefighting personnel are put to great risk when they engage in the line of duty to save lives and property. We must imbibe a culture of ‘safety first’ through constant awareness creation and respect for regulations. All violations of safety protocols must be punished as per law to serve as an effective detterent.