Fires in the Built Environment - Essay Example

Fires in the Built Environment Introduction Fire accidents are one of the fatal deadly accidents. Precautions should be taken to avoid these accidents. Fire extinguishers and other first aid items like water and sand will help at times of fire accidents. There has been an increase in the number of fire accidents in the recent years. Mortality due to fire accidents have also increased. Burns are one among the serious injuries. Many people have lost their because of fatal fire accidents. Fire accident may occur at an open space or a building. The severity of the accident depends on the place and the cause of the accident. Fire alarms must be kept at home, so that intimate the fire services immediately if an accident takes place. People should be aware of the conditions under which these accidents occur. They must be educated on how to handle the situation and to provide first aid. (House and building fires 2002) Many house hold fire accidents are increasing day by day. As there are a number of electrical appliances being used, the chance of a fire accident is higher. It can be avoided if people are more alert and cautious. Fire accidents that occur in buildings are more dangerous as it takes more time to put off the fire. Another reason is it will start spreading to the houses nearby. Rather than thinking of costly fire protection tools and machines, one can practice the ways of preventing it. Avoiding Fire Accidents There are various ways to avoid a fire accident in a building. Housekeeping Check Electronic items like heaters must be kept at a proper place and the wiring must be done in a good condition. The sockets should have perfect connection. Fire Safety Measures The most important aspect is the fire exit. Fire exit must be situated at a place that can be easily accessed. Proper ventilation should be done in all the houses. Fire alarms should be in working condition and they must also be kept in an easy to access position. Fire extinguishers are of various types and should be used depending on the situation. (David 2009). Maintenance The fire extinguishers and alarms must be maintained so that it works properly during accidents. Electrical equipments must be well maintained and if there is any problem in wiring it should be repaired immediately. The electrical connections in the house must also be checked regularly in order to avoid any such accidents. The wires must be kept away from water, as short circuit may occur. Wiring should not be exposed and must be covered properly. Smoking It is one among the main reason for fire accident at home and workplaces. Discarding the cigarette without proper care will lead to serious fire accident. Many fire accidents have been caused by cigarettes that are carelessly thrown at public places. They must be disposed at a proper place so that they do not re ignite and result in fatal fire accidents. Most of the fire accidents occur due to negligence and carelessness. The place should be properly ventilated and all the precautionary and first aid items must be readily available. Precautionary Measures Enclosing cooking fire This is the common reason for most of the fire accidents. People cooking are more prone to accidents. They must ensure proper safety while cooking. Proper dressing is the main way to keep away fire accidents. Well fitted clothes will reduce the risk of fire accidents. Cooking equipments must be turned off after use. Cooking gas must be kept in a safer place and must be regularly checked. (Bengriston 2007). Safeguarding children from Fire As children are not aware of the seriousness, fire and other things like candles must be kept away from their reach. Proper storage of Flammable Materials Things like kerosene and other flammable materials must be stored at a safer place. They should not be kept inside the house, since they may increase the risk of a fire accident. Chemicals, gases have to be stored at in closed place. Candles They are one of the easy ways the fire accidents can occur. One should be careful while using candles. If they are no longer needed then it should be put off immediately. Places where candles are placed decide the vulnerability of the accident. One must make sure it is not kept near the windows and other places where the flow of air is more. Ear thing Electrical wires should be correctly earthed to avoid the fire accident. Smoke Detecting Machines Smoke detectors are equipments that detect a fire and will help in preventing it from spreading to other places. Work places must be more precautious as they may use heavy equipments like machines and computer servers. Heating Devices Equipments like water heaters and ironing machines also can lead to outbreak of fire. These appliances must be removed from the sockets when they are not in use. In most of the fire accidents, the victims do not even see the fire. Once fire starts spreading, carbon monoxide increases as oxygen combines with the fire. If a person inhales this, it will definitely lead to death. Most of the fire accident that takes place in houses starts with a flame and immediately turns into a thick smoke that leaves the people choking. In many cases, fire accident takes place when a person is not alert. According to a survey conducted in United States, major percentage of fire outbreaks in houses are due to negligence or unattended electrical wiring. Fire accidents have been common in countries like U.K, Germany, U.S.A and France. U.K Recently a fire accident occurred in U.K at a residential complex. This took place at Rutland Gardens on 2009. The first floor and ground floor of the building was damaged. People from fire service stations struggled hard to stop the fire from further spreading. It took almost an hour to control the fire. The reason for the accident is suspected to be a short circuit. To avoid such incidents, a regular inspection is necessary. One should make sure that all the electrical appliances and check points are properly maintained. During a fire outbreak in London before a decade, many people lost their lives. The fire in a residential apartment started spreading to the other houses and people could not escape the fire. Many succumbed to serious injuries and most of them died at a later stage. The main cause for such accidents is mere carelessness and irresponsibility. (London Fire Brigade 2009) These accidents can be avoided if they are more careful and should be precautious. The necessary items to put off the fire should be available in all the houses. People must know how to escape a fire accident. Germany A fire accident took place in Ludwigshafen, a town in Germany, in the year 2008. Around nine people died out of which many were small children. This accident occurred in an apartment and many houses were caught in fire. People did not know how to save themselves from the fire. Fire brigade arrived and tried hard to prevent the fire from further spreading. But still they could not save all the residents. Another incident that took place in the same town left many people injured. This was the second accident in the same year. The fire service personnel saved many people and fortunately no body died. The fire that has caught in the first floor has spread to the other floors by emitting thick smoke. This became a major issue and the government then made it mandatory that all the apartments must store fire extinguisher, which may at least help to prevent the fire from spreading. (Fire Accident In Germany 2008) This incident created a panic among the public, after which they realized the seriousness of the fire accidents. Even though fire service stations have advanced equipments and use effective methods, it takes time for them to save the people. This clearly states that people should be educated on how to face these situations. As they lack knowledge about how to proceed and escape from the accident, many of them lost their lives. The government should take steps to educate people on how to handle such situations and to act wisely. They must also know how to save the people who are caught in such accidents. (Fire Accident In Germany 2008) U.S.A A fire broke out at the Torrington complex at Torrington, U.S.A. The firefighters were informed immediately and they struggled to bring the fire under control. They were trying to stop the spreading of fire to the other parts of the building. This incident took place on August 2009. Though fire service people tried hard, the fire caught the houses near the complex. Even some of the fire service people lost their lives while trying to save the people. The fire broke out from the box manufacturing factory and they have raised an alarm. Many volunteers and people from service organizations helped the people in the building to move to a safer place. (Owens 2009).By then, persons from fire brigade arrived and started their operation. It took almost four hours to bring the fire under control. The cause of the fire accident is not yet known. The fire had spread to almost all parts of the building, leaving it totally damaged. The main aim of the fire fighters was to keep the other buildings safe. But some of the buildings nearby suffered damage because of the fire. (Boiler Accident 2007) The fire personnel had a tough time in controlling the fire. Their struggle did not go in vain. They were able to save the lives of some of the people who were working in the various industries in the building. A similar accident took place in the late 1970's in which a major machine manufacturing company was burnt. This occurred because of the chemicals and liquors that were stored in one of the room in that industrial building. (Boiler Accident 2007) France An accident took place in the year 2007, at Dana Corporation at Paris. This accident occurred at a boiler room in the factory. The boiler had burst due to excess heat and an employee lost his life. The effect of the boiler that had burst left a portion of the room damaged. This accident occurred due to the carelessness in marinating the boiler tubes. Then a fire broke out and the part of that building was totally damaged. Another incident occurred in one of the LPG refinery in France. Due to a small mistake this accident took place. Some of the LPG containers were not closed properly, which resulted in the spreading of gas to the other rooms in that building. Soon it had escaped to the road and a car passing by that way exploded. The gas had caught fire because of that car. The traffic came to a standstill. Fire fighters came and saved the building from explosion. As LPG is one of the dangerous things that can catch fire very easily and will lead to severe accidents and losses. If a LPG container bursts then it will damage the buildings next to it. (Kobayashi, Tamura 2002). Each of the incidents has happened due to different reasons. All this could have been avoided if people had taken some extra care. Public should be aware of the vulnerability of the dangerous element fire. If fire is not used properly, it will result in heavy loss. Though government takes various actions to prevent these accidents, still it continues to occur in almost all the countries. These fatal accidents will incur a very heavy loss if it occurs at companies and manufacturing plants. According to a survey conducted by an organization in U.S.A, there were around 5, 00,000 fire accidents in buildings in U.S.A till the year of 1998. Then government decided on implementing certain codes on the products used for construction. As the loss caused by fire is more, government tried to have a control over it. A building should be constructed using quality materials which will avoid the spreading of fire. Most of the buildings contain furniture and other interiors that are prone to fire accidents. Hence, the codes stated that the products that are manufactured to be kept in buildings should be fire resistant and must avoid the fire getting spread to the other places. The same method can also be used while manufacturing doors and ceiling materials. This method imposes that the wall and the ceiling should be fire proof. The interior walls of the building should be barrier to the fire and will not allow the fire to spread further. By using this, the number of fire accidents can be considerably reduced. Even if a house or a part of a building catches fire, it will not spread to the other parts of that building. Hence the government decided to adapt this method and test each of the manufacturers. It is compulsory for every company to pass each of these tests to ensure that their products will be fire proof. This test has been approved by the government and other private licensing organizations. As it is effective, this can be implemented in all the countries, so that fire accidents can be reduced. The main aim of developing such models and methods is to protect the public from fire and to prevent the fatal fire accidents. Fire accidents occur due to various reasons and several causes. Clothes dryer has acted as a cause for many fire accidents. Most of the houses make use of cloth drying machine to dry their clothes. Many people tend to keep these dryers in the bathroom, bedrooms or in any main area of the house. A data report shows that around twelve thousand cloth dryers lead to fire accidents which results in deaths and injuries. A dryer uses hot air to dry the clothes. The clothes are being put into a drum which blows hot air to enable the clothes to get dried soon. During this process some residues get accumulated and it may decrease the flow of air. This provides a flammable source that catches fire. Accidents due to these dryers are occurring at residential homes. A proper ventilator inside the dryer will reduce this problem. Any such electrical appliance must be well maintained. (Clothes Dryer Fires 2007) Fire accidents can be reduced if people are properly educated regarding the prevention of such accidents. People should realize the seriousness of these accidents and must be aware of the after effects of fire accidents. Government and other voluntary organizations must come forward to help the public in realizing their responsibilities. A person must know how to react and handle this situation. One should be able to save him and others from such accidents. (Olatian, Dairo 2007).They must learn how to escape from a fire accident and should be given training to achieve this. Media should lend a helping hand in making the people realize the importance of such trainings. They can give some printed material to make them understand the hazards of fire. People must also know the various ways to escape from a fire accident. Smoke detectors are a boon and they should be definitely placed in all the houses and workplaces. By implementing all these, such fatal fire accidents can be reduced and many people's life can be saved. Today there is a vast improvement in the technology and there are various equipments that can help in detecting and preventing the fire accidents. By using these machines, the number of accidents has been reduced in many countries. Survey reports show that 5000 Americans die due to fire accidents. Around 20,000 are injured because of the various fire accidents. Many children are killed in these accidents. Fire accidents can be avoided ad prevented by taking proper measures. Many organizations have formed some principles and objectives which will reduce the risk of fire accidents and save lives. One has to know the methods to save him in such difficult situation. The principles derived by the organizations are safety of life (Sam 2009) and safe guarding the property. The environment on the whole has to be protected to ensure a problem free surrounding. If the place a person lives is properly maintained, the risk of such accidents is very less. (Gelin 2002). Any built environment must have the facilities to protect the people residing on it. Almost all the countries suffer from fire accidents. Fires in built environment are more problematic and risky than the accidents that occur at an open place. If a fire accident occurs at an open place, the chances of fire getting spread to the nearby areas or buildings are very less. In contrast, if a building catches fire, the complex or the other buildings nearby are more prone to fire accidents. A building that catches fire not only spoils and damages that particular building; instead the neighboring places will also suffer. References David D., 2009. Methods of Preventing Fire Accidents at Home and Reducing Risk. [Online]. Available at: http://www.saching.com/Article/Methods-of-preventing-fire-accidents-at-home-and-reducing-risk/4107 [Accessed 12 December 2009]. Olaitan, B & Dairo, D., 2007. Rescue and Disaster Medicine. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ispub.com/journal/the_internet_journal_of_rescue_and_disaster_medicine/volume_6_number_1_26/article/domestic_fire_accidents_in_a_developing_country_reducing_morbidity_mortality_by_modifying_the_burglar_proofs.html [Accessed 12 December 2009]. Gelin, L., 2002. Fire In Buildings and Specification of Wall Coverings. [Online]. Available at: http://www.jm.com/engineered_products/wallcoverings/fire.pdf [Accessed 11 December 2009]. Owens, D., 2009. Fire Destroys Defunct Torrington Factory Building. [Online]. Available at: http://www.allbusiness.com/safety-accidents-disasters/accidents-fires/12627593-1.html [Accessed 12 December 2009]. Bengriston., 2007. Fire Prevention: Avoid the Root Causes of Fire. [Online]. Available at: http://hubpages.com/hub/extinguishersandfireprotectionequipment [Accessed: 12 December 2009]. Kobayashi, M & Tamura, M., 2002. Fire and Explosion of LPG Tanks at Feyzin, France. [Online]. Available at: http://shippai.jst.go.jp/en/Detailfn=2&id=CC1300001 [Accessed: 12 December 2009]. Sam., 2009. New ISO Standard for Fire Safety Design of Built Environment. [Online]. Available at: http://www.standardsusers.org/standardsusers/index.phpoption=com_content&view=article&id=892:new-iso-standard-for-fire-safety-design-of-built-environment-will-help-save-lives-and-cut-cost&catid=82:iso-news&Itemid=97 [Accessed: 12 December 2009]. House and building fires, 2002, Federal Emergency Management Agency [Online]. 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