Let us all do our bit to reduce incidents of fire

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On Thursday, this paper published a report about a non-profit hosting a discussion between experts and top civic officials on fire safety. The focus was on short-circuits, one of the prime reasons for fires in buildings.

There were some takeaways from the discussion with chiefs, advisors and government officials that should serve as sharp reminders and lessons for us, locals, who may cluck sympathetically reading reports about fires but do not move to make our environment safer.

The first is that firefighting is a collective responsibility. Fire fighters cannot function without supportive citizens. Take care about wiring in your buildings. Keep gangways and passages free of clutter. Take interest in volunteer firefighting training, which sees the public being educated about appropriate safety and fire response.

The point of the discussion is that certain external factors such as an impossibly crowded city, narrow lanes choked by encroachments may be out of control for ordinary people. Yet, there are some factors like awareness, vigilance and response that can be controlled. People must feel responsible to fireproof their residences and do whatever is in their power to live safer.

The biggest bugbear perhaps were non-functional fire systems installed in buildings. These are of course dangerous to the residents, but are a huge challenge to fire fighters too. The buildings must ensure fire fighting systems do work, and in many residential buildings, the onus must not fall solely on the office-bearers but on all living there. They must also cooperate when it comes to keeping passages free of obstruction. There are some fire drills and lessons that residents can learn, we see a complete disinterest from many people in the building. At times, there is cursory attendance at these firefighting training sessions. We want to see each one doing their bit to reduce chances of fire. Each drop will eventually make an ocean of a difference.