Fire drill, system upkeep needed to save lives

Administrating fire drills and regular maintenance of fire detection and protection systems are of utmost necessity to save lives during a fire tragedy, said Architect Jalal Ahmed, president of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh.

Speaking to The Daily Star, he said there were many buildings in the city that had fire detection or protection systems, but they did not work during fire incidents due to lack of regular maintenance.

“In many cases, many residents of a building do not know what to do during a fire incident due to lack of fire drills,” he said.

Citing an example, Jalal said though there was a fire incident at Suhrawardy Hospital this year, it ended without any casualty as hospital authorities conducted a fire drill in the hospital just around two months before the incident.

Most of fire incidents, according to Jalal, start from short circuits in electrical appliances or wirings.

“Even if a building is constructed properly, it may be under the risk of fire due to the setting up of electrical lines by unskilled electricians,” he said.

He added that electrical maintenance and repair work would have to be done through ABC licence holders (electrical supervisor licence holders), which was provided by the Power Development Board or Dhaka Electric Supply Authority.

“These licence holders can work as qualified electricians.”