FIRES DUE TO
HUMAN NEGLIGENCE AND IGNORANCE-THEIR CAUSES AND THEIR PREVENTION
GROUP MEMBERS: Nikitha, Arnav, Madhav, Karthik, Antony
Fire is a very good servant, but,
very bad master. As long as fire is under control, it serves a lot of useful
purposes for us, but, once it goes out of control, it can create a lot of
destruction. However, despite the presence of fire safety measures, the
occurrence of accidents is often inevitable.
It is this combination (of good
servant and bad master), which is dangerous.
Because of the useful purposes that
it serves, people keep sources of fire in/around their houses/work place. And,
these sources could sometimes result in “undesired” fire.
DIFFERENT
TYPES OF FIRE MISHAPS DUE TO CARELESSNESS OF MAN
Incidents of fires are usually not
evenly distributed. There are higher number of fires during:
· SUMMER SEASON: Due to higher ambient temperature leaves and similar
objects, being dry, catch fire easily. This is the time, when many forest-fires
start.
· SOME SPECIFIC FESTIVE EVENTS: Due to use/availability of firecrackers,
and/or lights. Hence, it is more important to be especially
careful during these periods. Not only are the chances of incidents higher,
but, the chances of your local fire department being overloaded is also very
high. This might have an impact on their ability to respond swiftly to your
call – in case there is a need – as they could be busy fighting fire.
INCIDENTS
INVOLVING COOKING GAS
Leakage of cooking gas, accompanied
by a spark around the leakage could cause fire. These are typically very
dangerous. Sources of sparks could be anything -a burning item, turning on/off
of electrical gadgets/switches etc.
The leak can be in the gas cylinder
itself, the pipeline carrying the gas, the regulator, joints etc. Some simple
precautions to be taken for this include:
PRECAUTIONS:
· Regular inspection of gas
pipes, and, timely replacement.
· No sparks in case there is
any trace of LPG smell. LPG – itself does not have any odour. A trace odour is
put in the LPG – only to detect any leakage.
· Just like electrical
point, turn off gases at multiple points, when not in use.
INCIDENTS INVOLVING COOKING OIL
While cooking, sometimes, the cooking
medium could get overheated, resulting in fire. These are more frequent, but, fortunately
– relatively easy to manage.
PRECAUTIONS:
· Never let cooking oil
unattended, when it is being heated.
· Do not keep bottles of oil
in contact with very hot objects, like, hot utensils. Store the bottles away
from the stove.
INCIDENTS OF
ELECTRIC FIRE
As people start staying in a new
apartment, or, a new office, they start making modifications to the wall socket
outlets in order to be able to plug in additional apparatus. There reaches a
time, when the total amount of current drawn from all the sockets together
could exceed the rated capacity of the internal wiring.
PRECAUTIONS:
· Do not to make too many
changes to the electrical circuitry inside your apartment/work-place.
· Any alterations, if done,
should keep in mind the capacity of the wires used.
As time progresses, due to various
minor repairs etc. wires might be changed, jumbled up etc, or, the insulation
among wires might break down. This might cause some wires to come in contact
with each other, and, thus, create a short circuit. This short-circuit can
cause a very high current flow through the wires – and, thus causing fires.
PRECAUTIONS:
· Periodic inspection of
conditions of the wiring, and taking preventive action, whenever needed, should
be done.
· Install MCBs (Miniature
Circuit Breakers), so that any short – circuit would result in immediate
disconnection of the current flow.
DO’s AND DONT’s TO BE FOLLOWED FOR FIRE SAFETY:
1. Don’t play with matches
and lighters.
2. Ask your parents to
install smoke detectors on every floor and in the sleeping area of your home.
3. Remind your parents to
test the smoke detectors every month.
4. When your parents change
the time on your clock for day light saving, ask them to change your clock
alarm battery. Give it fresh battery and your smoke alarm will stay awake and
watch for fire while you are sleeping.
5. In case of fire, don’t
hide low .You should never hide in clothes or under bed when there is a fire.
6. To escape during a fire, crawl
and fall. It is easier to breathe in a fire if you stay low while getting out.
Use the back of your hands to touch to see if a door is hot before you open it.
If it is hot, try to use another way out.
7. If your clothes are on
fire, stop. Drop and roll until the fire is out. Shout for help but don’t run as
running makes fire burn faster.
THE AFTERMATH OF A
FIRE DISASTER
A fire of vast proportion can measure
cause of damage to the surrounding environment by the massive production of
heat and the formation of burns, gases and fumes.
Smoke and gas, because of their
suffocating action and their direct action on the airways represent other
specific danger elements. The danger of smoke and gas is generally
underestimated by the population.
When a violent fire breaks out, there
is an initial movement of psychological paralysis, generally followed by total
incapacity for logical thought and this leads to instinctive behavioural
reactions whose one aim is to save oneself and all that is most dear to reach
safety.
This sequence of actions not
infrequently serves only to worsen the extent of damage caused and to create an
even more dramatic and tragic situation.
SPREADING
AWARENESS ABOUT TACKLING FIRE DISASTERS
The calamities in the post-fire
disaster stage can be avoided by keeping calm and by taking rational
decisions.
This can be
achieved only in one way: through information about the risks involved,
understanding the dangers and through instruction about how to behave in THE case
of fire.
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