'Please take fire safety norms very seriously'

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/jul/190708PeninsulaChambers2.htm
By: Rita Ghose and Varun Singh
Date: 2008-07-19
Mumbai:

Where there's smoke... Eight fire engines and seven water tanks were pressed into service to put out the fire at Peninsula Chambers, Lower Parel, yesterday morning. pics/nimesh daveThe fire that broke out at Peninsula Chambers in Peninsula Corporate Park in Lower Parel at 8.30 am yesterday, has raised several questions about fire safety in high rises. According to P D Karguppikar, deputy fire officer, the cause of the fire was a short circuit. Smoke billowed from the basement of Peninsula Chambers, luckily no one was injured, as officegoers had not arrived. Police smashed glass windows and pumped in water to douse the fire while onlookers gathered on the sidewalks. Eight fire engines and seven water tanks were pressed into service to douse the fire. "Every high rise has two alternate sources of electric supply — one from BEST and the other from a diesel generator. In this case, the diesel generator did not work, as it was on manual mode rather than automatic, so the sprinklers did not start. Also the electrical shaft (through which all main electric lines pass) in the building, which should be sealed, was open allowing the fire to spread rapidly," said Karguppikar. No punitive powerHe added, "A notice regarding the breach of safety norms in the building will be issued within a week. People do not take fire safety norms seriously as fire officials do not have punitive power."A fire official said, "The basic mistakes that all high rises make is non-maintenance of basic fire safety installations. No matter how much you spend on a building, what matters are fire safety precautions."PrecautionsBut a spokesperson from Peninsula said, "Our systems were all in place and an alarm was raised immediately. The building was vacated in five minutes. We take all fire safety precautions including fire drills and regular checks on fire equipment. In fact, the fire officials used our hydrants to extinguish the fire."Safety firstAll high rises including residential and commercial buildings should have certain safety installations in place in order to prevent fires. These include:> A water reservoir for fire fighting. > A system known as wet riser system should be in place. It activates water pumps normally located on the ground floor, so that water can be carried through hoses to all the floors in case of a fire. > Fire hoses should be located on all floors.> Sprinkler systems, smoke detectors and heat detectors are essential on all floors. > There should be a fire lift only for the use of firemen, which allows them easy access to the fire. > Fire exits should not have any encroachments.