Are we prepared enough to deal with a fire?

Are We Prepared Enough to Deal with a Fire?

Acquaintance with fire, resulting from its easy production by matches and steel or electricity, has led modern civilizations to take fire for granted. But it has its negative side too which can lead a civilization to its destruction.

According to disaster management organization, "Fire is a very good servant but a very bad master. As long as fire is under our control, it serves a lot of useful purpose for us, but, once it goes out of our control, it can create a lot of destructions" (Churiwala) and employees of Asian University for Women are prepared enough to control any kind of sudden fire by not letting it out of their hands and keep their people safe.

Fire is rapid and self-sustaining. When it gets out of human control, it causes extreme damages and losses.

There are two types of fire disasters: Natural and Manmade. This research paper is about manmade fire. Fire caused by human or machine errors are considered as manmade fires. It can be industrial or chemical fire disasters, fires at social gatherings due to electrical short circuit fires, accidental fires and kitchen-fires.

According to SAARC Disaster Management Center, Causes of manmade fire are: "Cooking/heating equipment, intentional, electrical, open flame or ember, appliance, tool or air conditioner, smoking material and other heat source."

And contributing factors are:

"wood shingle/ thatched roof, high wind, inadequate water distribution system, lack of exposure protection, inadequate public protection, unusual hot/dry weather condition, delay in discovery fire, inadequate fire protection and delay in ringing the alarm."

For this project, the kitchen and the dining sections of Asian University for Women has been chosen to see if they have proper preparedness for handling fire disaster. Because, everyday about 15 to 20 employees have to work in the kitchen and 550 students and other staffs have their meal 3 times a day at the dining hall. So, it is considered to be one of the most important places of this university.

Important places like these two have to be always safe and sound. Do these two places have enough preparedness for any disaster specially fire disaster?

Mr. Gias Uddin, who is the chief chef and supervisor of kitchen and dining section of Asian University for Women, has shared his thought and experience regarding this issue.

The entrance of the kitchen looks safe. We can see some fire safety equipments there but there are always some risky places where there is always a chance to start fire. No matter how much safety equipments are there people has to be careful too.

Like Mr. Gias Uddin said "Every place is risky and dangerous, if you're not careful. It's all about discipline. A fire can be spread out because of the leaking of gas pipe, gas cylinder and loose of gas screw. Again electric short circuit also can cause a big accident."

They have a fire extinguisher in the dining hall. But to fight a fire you will have to have the basic knowledge of the actions of it or otherwise you may fall in danger.

Employees in AUW kitchen are always working with fire and gas for their cooking process everyday but what will happen if there’s a sudden fire because of a small mistake? Are they prepared to fight against the fire?

Regarding this topic Mr. Gias Uddin said that he and his seniors have a team of their own and every staff there has the knowledge of what to do if there is a fire. Their actions are different and divided. And also they know how to use fire equipment so they will make the best use of it if it is needed. So it can be said that the employees are provided with basic knowledge at fire fighting.

To take proper steps in a critical situation like fire, safety equipments like extinguisher, shovel, water bucket etc are the primary necessities. There are so many types of extinguishers which need to be checked and refilled to work properly. Fire alarm should be situated at proper places so that people find it easily during a fire.

“All our fire safety equipments have expire dates and to check them out we have a team from the security department. On the other hand, if any of the employees notice any problem in the gas line or in any the electronic devices, they immediately inform me to call the maintenance to fix it.”, stated Mr. Gias Uddin and insured that they have enough safety equipments in the kitchen and dining hall.

Mr. Gias Uddin also stated that if any of the employees notice any problem in the gas line or in any the electronic devices, they immediately inform the maintenance to fix it.

A while ago there was gas leaked in kitchen. When he entered the kitchen he smelt something strange. He felt a negative vibe. So he ordered all the employees to leave the place. Then he and his senior from security department investigated the situation and found out that a gas pipe was leaked. But for their preparedness and having basic knowledge of how to deal with this kind of situations they tackled it right away. From this experience of him it can be said that they have enough preparedness among their people to handle a sudden fire disaster.

Mr. Gias Uddin also stated that if any of the employees notice any problem in the gas line or in any the electronic devices, they immediately inform the maintenance to fix it.

The pictures show us employees working in a safe environment as they have enough preparedness for fire disaster. But even though an institution may have enough fire safety equipments and preparedness but they should advance it by the passage of time so that there may not be any lacking. Practice session should be provided to the staffs and employees time to time also. Therefore they remain prepared for any kind of sudden situation.

Awareness among people is an important part to make people more cautious about fire disaster. But nothing will work out if it is not taken seriously and methods are not practiced. So it is up to people’s mind and their consciousness.

Carefulness and cautiousness is the first step to help thyself and save thyself. We should know what to do and what not to do during a disaster; this will help us to reduce the risk of injury, death and damage. We have to keep our mind calm at the time of a fire and apply the methods we know to save ourselves.

We should keep it in our mind that, it is better for us to be prepared for a disaster than to deal with it after it happens. After all it is all about our lives.