Repeated incidents of fire outbreaks occur due to lack of accountability

Recently, a serious fire incident occurred in a building on Bailey Road in the capital. According to newspaper reports, the fire originated from a coffee restaurant. Additionally, gas cylinders were stored on the ground floor of the building. Consequently, the severity of the fire outbreak increased significantly. Although the building was originally constructed for residential purposes, later it was granted permission for commercial use. Any building construction must adhere to the National Building Code. The Building Code was first adopted in 2006 and was later revised in 2020. When constructing a building, it must adhere to certain regulations based on the intended use. These regulations are outlined in the building code. For buildings intended for residential use, a certain type of risk management must be in place.

If a building is constructed for commercial purposes, the risk management will be different. Determining the risk management for a building under construction depends on the type of building. Additionally, the quality of the materials to be used will be assessed. For example, if a building is used for residential purposes, one type of material can be used, while if the building is used for commercial purposes, another type of material may be used. However, in all cases, the materials used should be able to withstand earthquakes and should not be prone to damage in case of fire.

Residents residing on upper floors of multi-storied buildings face difficulties in descending quickly during earthquakes or fires. To address this issue, one or multiple well-equipped staircases can be constructed alongside the elevators in the building. This allows people on upper floors to descend quickly during emergencies. However, most multi-storied buildings lack such alternative staircases. As a result, residents on upper floors often find themselves facing danger during earthquakes or fires.

In densely populated cities like Dhaka, it is crucial to adhere to building codes when constructing buildings. Unfortunately, it is saddening but true that many multi-storied buildings constructed in our city do not comply with building codes properly. As a result, in the event of an earthquake or fire, the extent of damage can be dangerously significant. Many people have the misconception that their building will not catch fire; however, if the building is constructed to withstand earthquakes or fires, it will incur additional costs. Instead, generally constructing buildings will reduce construction expenses. Some people take on significant risks to secure minor financial gains for themselves. However, if the building had been constructed to withstand earthquakes or fires at a reasonable additional cost, occupants would not have to bear such risks. Many people obtain approvals for residential building construction, but after construction, they rent it out to commercial entities or use it for commercial purposes themselves.

Those are responsible for building maintenance have a significant responsibility. In the context of building maintenance, it's generally understood that no one from the relevant department can use a residential building for any other purpose. There is no opportunity to run a restaurant business in a residential building. However, it has been reported by eyewitnesses to the media that the fire originated from a restaurant located on the lower floor of the building that caught fire on Bailey Road.

How is this possible? Were they running their businesses by disregarding the relevant regulatory authorities? Is that even possible? If we investigate, we may find that the neighboring buildings to the one where the fire occurred are also at risk. In the building on Bailey Road where the fire occurred, there was a restaurant on the ground floor that used gas cylinders. There were numerous gas cylinders stored there. After the fire broke out, all those gas cylinders exploded, further exacerbating the severity of the fire hazard.

A fire can break out in a building in various ways; however, if we adopt caution regarding fire accidents beforehand, we can limit the extent of damage significantly. If every building has a functional alarm system, people can evacuate safely as soon as a fire breaks out. Descending quickly from a 5-6 story building is possible within 2-3 minutes. Without an alarm, there could be delays in receiving news of a fire, especially if it's on the third or fourth floor. By then, the fire may have spread dangerously in all directions. When a fire occurs in a building, a significant amount of smoke is generated. Due to this smoke, people can suffocate and die even before being directly affected by the fire. Analysis of various fire incidents over time has shown that more people die from smoke inhalation than from direct exposure to flames. Therefore, it is necessary for every building to have an adequate number of windows so that in the event of a fire, smoke can escape outside. During room decoration, plastic boards are often used, which generate a significant amount of smoke. In the event of a fire incident in a flat, these plastic boards emit a lot of smoke. This smoke is one of the major causes of human fatalities. Therefore, it is advisable to minimize the use of plastic boards as much as possible during decoration inside the flat.

It is necessary to construct buildings in such a way that in the event of a fire incident, the fire remains confined to the origin site and does not spread to the surroundings. Nowadays, various types of technologies have been developed to achieve this. Through the use of these modern technologies, it is possible to significantly mitigate the dangers posed by fires. After a fire incident, it is important to remain vigilant so that fires do not occur again. During building construction, materials that are fire-resistant should be used. It is essential to have sufficient fire exits on every floor of a building. In the event of a fire alarm, these exits will allow people to evacuate quickly. Additionally, it should be ensured that no combustible materials are stored in these exits. The residents of the building on Bailey Road have certainly made efforts to prevent fires. Perhaps they failed and moved away. During this time, fire service vehicles have been deployed. If people from the upper floors could evacuate during the intermediate period between the fire outbreak and the arrival of fire service vehicles, many lives could have been saved. In that case, only property damage would have occurred.

The fire incident on Bailey Road resulted in the loss of 46 lives, which is invaluable. It's not possible to assess the economic value of these deaths. The building owner can be held responsible for this incident due to negligence. They did not follow the appropriate procedures in constructing the building. They allowed residential buildings to be used for commercial purposes. Those responsible for the supervision of various buildings in the city of Dhaka have not fulfilled their duties properly. If they had carried out their responsibilities correctly, such risky buildings would not have been used in this manner. Due to insufficient supply of piped gas, various establishments extensively use gas cylinders. The use of gas cylinders often leads to dangerous fire incidents.

In our country, it is often observed that after an accident occurs, some time passes before any action is taken. An investigation committee is formed, but the general public usually remains unaware of the findings of the investigation committee's report. Even if the investigation committee makes any recommendations, they are often not implemented. As a result, similar accidents occur again. If there was accountability at all levels of governance in a country, such incidents would not happen. Most institutions in our country lack accountability. The lack of internal governance is evident at all levels. Consequently, even if someone commits a crime, they are not punished. At this moment, what is urgently needed is to mark the risky buildings in the capital and hang notices stating "This building is risky". This will make people cautious when renting such buildings. This can significantly reduce accidents. Those buildings that pose a higher risk can be shut down because human lives are more valuable than buildings.

Calculating the exact amount of economic loss due to fire incidents in the country every year is very challenging. Since fire incidents often result in loss of human lives, the loss of human lives cannot be evaluated in economic terms. If an earning member of a family loses their life in any accident, the family may suffer financially. Some sources claim that the economic loss from fire incidents occurring in our country every year exceeds 300 crore Taka, but this estimate does not seem comprehensive. The actual amount of damage may be even higher.

Author: Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.