Fire is a 24/7 issue
There is a flurry of media activity every time there is a big fire. Expert opinion on prime time news, interview of fire officers, live talk shows on television, newspaper articles, and so forth. But the enthusiasm is sadly doused with the fire and everyone gets on with their work until another, pray not, fire. As a result of which the building that was on fire is worse off in about say three months time. I am not necessarily referring to the BSEC building in the city's Karwan Bazaar, in which fire four persons perished in 2007.
More could possibly have lost their lives than the seven at the Bashundhara City on Friday the 13th of March this year (no need to get giddy with silly superstitions) had the fire occurred on a working day. As can be expected perhaps only in this country, on the fourth day of the fire, as the premises was made open to the public on the food court and shopping areas, the collapsible gate of a staircase was found locked on the ground floor. Lessons that save lives are meant to be learnt, not blown away with the smoke.
Engineer Syed Azizul Haq in this week's dispatch highlights several issues that need to be discussed and dealt with by authorities, institutions, and service providers. His paper comes almost two months after the Bashundhara fire which is in the right vein because it helps to continue our parley about fire. It is absolutely imperative for a safer tomorrow to make fire a 24/7 issue.
Without waiting for fire to strike, and it may strike anywhere at any time, the call of the hour should be for every building owner to survey their premises now, and see how safe it is from a potential fire, whether the electrical wiring and installations are being maintained, whether there are alternate routes to escape in case of a fire, whether the premises has its own built-in fire-fighting plan and equipment, whether fire service vehicles can approach their premises, whether they can save lives.
As for the media, they should keep up their good work which they commence after a fire, by monitoring risky buildings round the year, by conducting weekly television and radio programmes and by writing regularly on different aspects of fire to raise awareness among the public, and indeed to give the architects, engineers, building owners, operators, and tenants the right guidance. That will save lives.
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