I wonder why possibility of fire is taken so lightly; fire tenders, their equipment in factories are normally expired.
KARACHI: A former city nazim of Karachi, Syed Mustafa Kamal, added three snorkels to the city’s fire department. After his tenure ended, no snorkels were added to the fire department. The Sindh government stated that it had also established a rescue 1122 but the public hasn’t witnessed anything happening to date. What Karachi needs is one centralised rescue department which works in every area. Moreover, the department ought to have functioning fire tenders, snorkels and ambulances and each industrial zone should have a separate fire station.
Just looking at the recent disaster at the airport, according to some reports, fire tenders at the Karachi airport did not have foam. Instead water was used to extinguish fire involving chemicals. Similarly, the fires at the Baldia garment factory in Karachi were an eye-opener for all of us. On average, three to four fire incidents take place in Karachi every day.
I wonder why the possibility of fire is taken so lightly; the fire tenders and their equipment in factories are normally expired and are just kept there for a false feeling of security; fire extinguishers are unoperational and therefore these factories are not even slightly equipped to deal with massive fires.
I propose the following solutions: fire drills ought to be carried out frequently to ascertain the effectiveness of firefighting equipment. The other important aspect of firefighting is to impart training to firefighters according to the latest techniques. There is a strong need to compile a firefighting guidebook in which different procedures regarding how to fight all types of fires should be mentioned. The government should also give financial incentives and bonuses to firefighters for their good work. Many fire stations are in deplorable conditions and need improvement.
Furthermore, I would impress upon the municipal authorities and Cantonment Board to make it compulsory for all the high-rise buildings to have their own firefighting equipment and to train everyone on how to escape from a building if a fire breaks out, as well as taking care that fire exits are provided before approving the building plan to avoid any further loss of innocent lives.
Ghazanfar Ali Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, July 18th, 2014.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
