Urban fire occurs in cities or towns with the potential to rapidly spread to adjoining structures. These fires damage and destroy homes, schools, commercial buildings and vehicles.
Fire safety regulations in India:
Fire service is a state subject and comes under the Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution of India, under the provisions of Article 243W of the Constitution.
✓ The National Building Code (NBC) is the basic model code in India on matters relating to building construction and fire safety.
✓ Bureau of Indian Standards has formulated more than 150 standards on fire safety in buildings and firefighting equipment & systems.
As per The Model Building ByeLaws, 2003:
✓ The Chief Fire Officer issues the ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the view point of fire safety and means of escape.
✓This is done after ensuring that all the fire protection measures have been implemented and are functional as per approved plans.
Reasons for Urban Fires:
✓ Unplanned urban growth and high congestion: With rise in population residential and commercial buildings are witnessing expansion and densification over time.
✓ Poor compliance of norms: Issues such as non-compliant construction; lack of precautionary maintenance like the upkeep of extinguishers, fire doors, fire exits and their markings and assembly areas are common.
✓ Lack of adequate resources with the municipal corporations and local bodies which are responsible for providing fire services in many states.
✓ Lack of manpower for inspection as well as lack of investment in modern technology has made it difficult to track vulnerable zones.
✓ Low awareness among public regarding fire safety.
Measures needed to tackle Urban fire:
Enactment of a Fire Act in every state: It is of utmost importance that every state enacts its own Fire Act so that fire vulnerabilities in the state are adequately dealt with and unacceptable loss of life and property is prevented. Through a legislation, cities should reserve physical spaces for fire stations, fire hydrants, and fire lanes/parking spots.
Preparation of a comprehensive plan: Every state is to prepare a complete plan and work out the total requirements of manpower and equipment for the entire state. There is a need to upgrade fire services delivery capacity of local bodies by: o Providing them adequate funds o Recruitment and training of workers to check non-compliant constructions and for dispersal of NOCs in a timely manner.
Adopting modern technologies: Investing in technologies such as LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) based technologies to aerially track the fire.
Fire safety audits: It can be made mandatory via Third Party Agencies.
Awareness: Building awareness among citizens about fire prevention and protection measures is also of paramount importance. Organising firefighting workshop once in six months in localities/mohallas/schools with the involvement of local councellor/elected representatives is one way to achieve awareness.
NBC guidelines related to Fire safety:
The Part 4 (Fire and Life Safety) of NBC contains the fire safety norms through detailed provisions on fire prevention, life safety and fire protection.
✓It gives guidance by specifying the standards for construction, plumbing, active and passive fire protection systems etc.
✓ It mentions the restrictions on buildings in each fire zone and classifies height-width parameters
✓ It provides for other restrictions and requirements necessary to minimise danger to life from fire, smoke, fumes or panic before the building can be evacuated.