Short-circuiting is often a result of illegal connections, low quality wiring and therefore even if single major cause is taken, of, not only would it lead to saving innumerable lives and properties but also cut down on expenditure incurred on fire mitigation.
Division wise percentage of calls in Delhi
| Zone |
1993-94 |
1994-95 |
1995-96 |
1996-97 |
1997-98 |
Average |
| EAST |
20.27% |
20.63% |
23.40% |
23.56% |
22.76% |
22.12% |
| WEST |
11.07% |
14.21% |
14.27% |
15.83% |
15.84% |
14.38% |
| NORTH-WEST |
22.07% |
37.05% |
19.67% |
19.04% |
18.28% |
23.22% |
| CENTRAL |
25.34% |
24.20% |
22.72% |
23.33% |
23.07% |
23.73% |
| SOUTH |
20.52% |
20.80% |
19.85% |
21.27% |
20.87% |
20.67% |
Causes of fire
| |
1993-94 |
1994-95 |
1995-96 |
1996-97 |
1997-98 |
| Electricity short circuit |
5848 |
6473 |
70.40% |
7433 |
7268 |
| Carelessness |
1701 |
1728 |
18.37% |
1896 |
1466 |
| Miscellaneous |
308 |
504 |
0.75% |
356 |
387 |
| Spark M/Heat |
156 |
258 |
1.73 |
203 |
160 |
| Fire Works |
139 |
146 |
1.68% |
198 |
59 |
| Unknown |
138 |
184 |
1.49% |
181 |
166 |
| Naked Flame |
105 |
133 |
4.59% |
351 |
288 |
| Intentional |
75 |
986 |
0.90% |
121 |
109 |
| Incendiarism |
45 |
16 |
- |
22 |
16 |
| Spontaneous |
13 |
1 |
- |
0 |
0 |
| Radiation |
10 |
4 |
- |
1 |
0 |
| Lighting |
6 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Children Playing with fire |
6 |
2 |
0.00% |
1 |
0 |
Issues
High population density, crowded streets, unmatching mixed occupancies, inadequate water supply, poor electrical services, unplanned siting of fire stations, encroachment are few examples of ineffective planning which adversely affect the fire response time. Under the present circumstances, a response time of 3 minutes in urban areas and 5 minutes in rural areas is very difficult to achieve. Mobilizing a large quantity of water to the fire scene in walled city area is more than fire fighting. After every fire, as a customary, fire service is blamed for one thing or the other but public, planners as wells as bureaucracy are least bothered to analyze the constraints under which services perform. Fire safety should therefore be an integral part of urban planning process rather than an after thought.
The developmental activities are in full swing in the sub-urban area, with complete disrespect to environment and fire safety aspects in absence of regulatory laws exempted in these areas. In times to come they will form the part of the urban areas with the problems they are creating today and as customary all the agencies concerned shall wake up to discuss the problems with the active support of the media. Also as customary, they probably will not find a solution to resolve the problem. It may not affect the planners but it puts pressure on the emergency services that are also by now accustomed to the criticism for no faults of their. Inquiry committees and commissions will continue to be appointed incident after incident but the recommendations will have the same fate like in the past for simple reasons that it may require hard political decisions to which any elected body would be hesitant.
It should not be mistaken that all this is happening only due to failure of planning or enforcement of a plan. Many of the problems are attributable to the lack of awareness and knowledge about the concept of fire safety. The designers of the buildings and the planners of the town have no formal education in the fire safety management. Fire services has also failed to participate in urban planning process, either due to the fact that they are not the part of the urban affairs or due to the fact that they are not the part of the urban affairs or due to the fact that they too, do not possess adequate and reliable data base to project their concern in the planning process. They have also failed in providing an interactive forum for the architects, planners, citizens and the fire professional to discuss and resolve the issue causing concern to each other.
- Database and comprehensive evaluation of risks of each single area, its vulnerability to fires and available equipment, personal and foolproof communication system is not available.
- Adequate resources for the services and coordinattion with the cities is not there.
- Multiplicity of agencies with different objectives causes repetition and lack of responsibility towards a cause like meeting fire crisis. Coordination is essential.
- There is no honest interaction between the architects, interior desighers. Structural engineers and fire professionals. Inflexible regulations have neither helped noir will they help in future.
- Fire Services have to fight a lone battle to get safety norms prescribed in building bye-laws and the National Building Code implemented.
- The people's perception about fire risk is correlated with social, cultural and psychological factors. The fire services has since long addressed this issue with a most generic view. The message about fire safely is the same for entire population. The public has also reciprocated in the same generic way. No single shot therapy is possible in risk communication. Fire service personnel must learn how to reach them and how to listen to them. Having spent so long working on reactive response i.e. dispatching appliances on a call, the fire professionals are making job more difficulty by developing into "fire fighting" culture in the organization instead of desired combination of "fire prevention " and "fire fighting". There are a large number of groups within and outside the fire department who can work together to make a difference before the event. What the government is not doing is not the issue, but the real issue is what we can do and what we are not doing.
- Fire Services have been placed under the control of the local bodies in the Constitution of India. However it has been termed as a law and order activity in independence India. The biggest draw back in considering the fire services as a 'law and order activity' has been in their isolation or less participation in the policy making body of the state and that regulates the urban affairs, which is otherwise essential in view of fire prevention. Hence, fire services are executing only half of their responsibility. Should the fire services be organized under the authority of the urban affairs or should this continue to remain with authority controlling the home affairs, is a million dollar question.