Humanity progressed from the Stone Age when it figured out how to control and utilize fire. Control implies the capacity to light and extinguish the fire as wanted and acquiring the learning to control the size, temperature, heat discharge rate, and the speed of engendering of fire.
Fire is a fundamental segment of human life; we should realize how to utilize it in a controlled way. Sadly, numbness, hesitance to pursue safety principles and carelessness cause many fire mishaps all through Bangladesh. According to the FSCD Department, there were around 80 fire mishaps in Dhaka city a year ago alone. The deadliest fire as of late was the Chawk Bazar fire this year.
So what are the explanations for some ongoing fatal fire mishaps in Dhaka city? What were the post-mishap outcomes? What’s more, was there any infringement of fire safety rules? What should be possible to counteract or lessen the number of losses of significant fire-related mishaps?
The fire at Nimtoli of old Dhaka happened around nine years back and the Chawkbazar fire, also in Old Dhaka, arrived in February this year. These two incidents are of a similar sort—the fire spread quickly because of substance godowns and, thus, numerous individuals were executed. In the ongoing Chawkbazar conflict, because of the blast, the mass of the upper floor of the building broke and fell, injuring and killing individuals in the neighbouring street.
According to the fire guidelines of the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC, 2006), synthetic substances must not be put away in a private building. The precise characterization of these sorts of materials, strategy for merchandising, handling, and processing are spread out in the refreshed form of the BNBC. The godown for these kinds of the concoction ought not exclusively to be isolated from inhabitants. However, these synthetic compounds should also be put away in uncommonly manufactured godowns with blast venting offices.
In old Dhaka, a large portion of the structure is made of reinforced cement and buildings and is multi-storied of variable statues. In the majority of the regions, there is a little hole between buildings. In private facilities, the zone per individual is not exactly the standard worth. According to BNBC 2006, the conventional estimation of the region required per individual is 18 square meters (minimum), regardless of the territory. Great states of high-thickness areas like Old Dhaka were not considered in BNBC 2006. In the refreshed variant of BNBC, this exceptional condition was discussed, and the minimum standard requirement for the high-thickness metropolitan city was recommended. According to this condition, regardless of its sort of improvement, housing ought to be arranged and composed in gatherings or groups.
Albeit Old Dhaka is significantly populated, and there is still enough space for ensuring a minimum way of life condition. The condos or housing arrangement of Old Dhaka ought to be adjusted into some bunches and gatherings. The main issue is the best possible plan and execution. To illuminate the shortage of water required for firefighting, hydrants can be installed at some regular intervals, by the roadside of Old Dhaka. WASA can do this if they wish. As FSCD has long hose channels to splash water, narrow streets ought not to be an issue for firefighting. This sort of hydrant is accessible in the vast majority of the urban communities everywhere throughout the world.
In Old Dhaka, there are around 20,000 little stockpiles/godowns and manufacturing offices where low-income individuals work and supply various items to Dhaka natives just as everywhere throughout the nation. These stores and manufacturing units generally handle sorts of materials which are not profoundly combustible and are of low-or medium-class peril. According to the law of the nation, this kind of blended inhabitants is permitted.
The private buildings of Dhaka city are made of mainly RCC structure which are non-flammable and retain quality when consumed by typical fire temperature. Starting today, no Bangladeshi building built of RCC crumbled after a fire incident. Private facilities up to the fourth story needn’t bother with a fixed firefighting framework according to BNBC rule. Over the most recent couple of years, an enormous number of tall structures were built in Bangladesh. The vast majority of them are not planned following fire safety rules.
All the elevated structures ought to have a flat and vertical partition among floors and lofts, stairs and fire exits, fire lifts, and so forth, according to BNBC. There are no fire specialists to check the structure in the approving advisory group shaped by the approving expert as endorsed in BNBC. Indeed, even in the refreshed variant of BNBC, regardless of recommendations, no firemaster is included in the favourable advisory group. Buildings built after the fire law declaration can without much of a stretch be changed for fire safety. Appropriate direction and monitoring are required.
From the ongoing information of fire setbacks all through the nation, it is seen that around 40 per cent of individuals who went to the emergency clinic with consumer injuries got their injuries from fires originating from the family unit gas burner. Spilt gas from the cylinder aggregates in the kitchen, and at the time of start, the gas inside the room touches off, and the gas cylinder detonates. As these cylinders work at a generally low weight, its quality isn’t fundamentally structured and tried.
The nature of the suitable arrangement of the cylinders is additionally not genuinely maintained. Because of the absence of mindfulness and carelessness and different shortcomings, gas holes happen in kitchens. As the heaviness of LPG gas is more substantial, it blends with the room air to an extent adequate to touch off a fire resulting in a blast.
To evade this, a propensity for ventilating the room air before igniting the burner may decrease this sort of mishaps. Regularly, kitchens are intended to have ventilators in the ceiling which is of no utilization for venting out this spilt LPG gas.
These cylinders ought to be structured with an extra-weight venting framework so it won’t detonate regardless of what the weight or temperature is. Another sort of composite and blast evidence cylinder is accessible. Having ventilator at the floor level and size of the kitchen may help vent out the spilt gas from the kitchen and may diminish the number of mishaps.