“The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity.
The Optimist Sees Opportunity In Every Difficulty.”

Fire safety at home, forget about mitigation, often doesn’t get the seriousness it deserves. In a vertically growing city like Mumbai, it assumes paramount importance as tall buildings, sometimes in close proximity to the chaotic muddle of the mushrooming slums, run the perennial risk of a fire that can degenerate into an inferno. (Recall the 1974 Hollywood hit The Towering Inferno starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. It had that resonating message: One tiny spark becomes a night of blazing disaster).

Mumbai’s monstrous urban concrete poses a completely different challenge as large number of families reside in one building or chawls, which are far too many. Leaving aside a minuscule few, residents living in them are either ill-equipped to handle a fire and/or maybe, lack the presence of mind to respond to emergencies. A potentially hazardous situation.

Primary challenge

Now let’s look at what the records say. Mumbai city continues to witness major fires, especially in high-rises. As per the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB), 2,925 fire-related calls were recorded from January 2023 to July 2023. The major fire incidents were recorded in high-rise buildings like one at R A Residency, the SRA Building in Kurla, and one at Breach Candy. As per MFB data a total of around 10,000 emergency calls have been received, of which 2,925 fire calls, 4,515 rescue calls, and 2,533 other calls. On average, over 5,000 fire calls are reported in the city every year, and 70% of fires have electric origin.

According to officials, during each fire incident, evacuating people was a primary challenge, more so those from higher floors. As a consequence, people have lost lives mainly because of asphyxiation (suffocation) and not by injuries or burns. A closer scrutiny calls for a dire need for evacuation solutions. The proverbial silver lining to this dark cloud is the state government and fire department have undertaken awareness campaigns for faster and safer evacuation, resulting in fire calls going down considerably.

Time and again, the Mumbai Fire Brigade requests citizens to adhere to fire safety and evacuation norms for safer living. However, fire safety at homes remains neglected and all hell breaks loose only when disaster strikes. Additional Municipal Commissioner, Ashwini Bhide had made out a case for enhanced safety in tall buildings. The launch of the Agni Rakshak training, a civic awareness initiative by MFB and the implementation of fire evacuation lifts in tall buildings underscore Mumbai’s commitment to safety.

Efficient infrastructure

Fire Department and Municipal Corporation of Mumbai are constantly working on building an efficient infrastructure to minimize losses. Mumbai’s fire stations, mini fire stations and ward-level Quick Response Vehicles (QRV) have been tasked to respond to fire incidents at the earliest. A new design of Combined Fire Fighting Vehicles has been proposed. These vehicles will have a hydraulic platform, water tank inside the fire engine, and rescue vehicle. It’s under process, and soon the Mumbai Fire Department will have such advanced cars for rescue operations.

Unfortunately for many, the importance of fire preparedness becomes clear only after it is too late. There is very less thought given to home fires because they’re not a part of people’s day-to-day safety psyche. People tend to get complacent and lapse into “that won’t happen to me” mentality. All it takes is one cooking accident or one ember from the fireplace to put us in danger and upend our lives. With people living in apartments close by, the danger increases manifold.

Once a fire breaks out in your home, you will have seconds to make important decisions about putting out the fire, escaping from the building, and calling the fire department. There will not be time to learn how to do any of these things in the moment, so preparation is key.

Fires in the home are never expected. The key responsibilities one needs to remember is to start with risk mitigation from cooking and heat sources. Next is maintaining properly placed smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. Finally, the need to design and practice a fire escape plan regularly with everyone at home.

Some key tips

• Stay in the kitchen when heating, boiling or grilling.
• Keep inflammable objects away.
• Do not smoke inside the home
• Immediately replace frayed or bare wires
• Keep matches, lighters away from children