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Wrong fire-fighting tools, building frenzy blamed

HelemulAlam
The fire department's lack of readiness to deal with fire in dense neighbourhoods with narrow streets, and unplanned building boom in the capital were the reasons for the high number of casualties in Thursday's Nimtoli blaze, according to urban planning experts.
The blaze was just 300 metres from the Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters from where firefighters rushed to the spot right away, but could not do much to save the lives of the trapped residents.
"The fire spread to seven houses. So we tried to contain it first. If we were not very active, far more houses would probably be affected," Abdur Rashid, deputy director of Dhaka Division Fire Service, said.
The sheer number of fatalities has shown how helpless the situation could be in a case of fire in densely populated areas with narrow roads, like the old part of Dhaka City.
Almost no house in Old Dhaka is equipped with fire extinguisher, said Prof Mehdi Ahmed Ansari of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet). "Every building should have its own fire-fighting system. That is the primary lire saving apparatus in any incident of fire. Fire brigade's jobs are to rescue trapped people, contain spreading, and douse the fire," said ProfNizamuddin of Buet. Every building should also have fire escape, he added.
"Motor cycle brigades for fire-fighting, like the ones in Malaysia, could be useful for places like Nimtoli," he said adding, but in that case the neighbourhoods must have fire hydrants.
Officials of the fire brigade said the department is not yet equipped to fight fire in dense neighbourhoods with narrow streets.
"Most of the roads are very narrow in Old Dhaka, where our vehicles cannot go," Abdur Rashid said.
Due to unplanned urbanisation some areas in newer parts of the city also have narrow roads like Kazipara, Shewrapara, Taltala, Kafrul, Tejgaon, Begunbari, Pirerbagh, Badda, Shajahanpur, and Sabujbagh, said another fire department official.
About the Nimtoli incident Rashid said they could go near the spot only through one side because the road on that side was wide enough, on all other sides they had to train their hoses from far due to narrow roads.
The web of wires that frequently hang low over neighbourhood streets are also an obstacle for fire trucks to reach fire spots, he said.
Asked how they fight fire in areas like Old Dhaka now, he said they first try to reach the spot with fire trucks, if the roads are too narrow for the trucks, they use nearby surface level natural water reservoirs to pump water into the blaze from
The shrinking number of ponds and other water bodies in the city is also making firefighters' work increasingly difficult.
Fire service officialssaidjust 35 years back, Dhaka City had 26 water reservoirs for the firefighters, and on top of that there were many ponds and canals. But due to a lack of awareness among government departments concerned, and the population in general, most of those have been filled up over theyears, they added.
On Thursday night the firefighters had a hard time finding a natural source of water after water in their trucks ran out.
Finally they used the water reservoir of a nearby mosque temporarily, and later they had to bring more water from the pond in Shahidullah Hall of Dhaka University, about half a kilometre away from Nimtoli.
Rashid said Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) should build water reservoirs and install fire hydrants at different parts of the city for easy access to water during incidents of fire.
Eminent urban planning expert also the honorary chairman of the Centre for Urban Studies, Prof Nazru Islam, said
one of the main reasons for such a large number of casualties in Nimtoli, was that the area is very densely populated.
He said planned urbanisation, and strict enforcement of building construction rules is a must for avoiding casualties in afire.
Prof Mehdi said the practice of allowing industries and warehouses in residential areas must stop, and the government must enforce the principle strictly.
Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defence Brig Gen Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah echoed the professor, adding that Thursday's blaze became so formidable because there was a warehouse of highly flammable chemicals on the ground floor of the residential building that caught the fire first.
The burning chemicals spewed out on the street in front as well, making it very difficult for the firefighters to approach the building, he said.
The burning chemicals were a major reason for such a high number of casualties, he added.
About the fire department's unpreparedness to tight fire in dense neighbourhoods with narrow streets, he said the technology available for fire fighting in such places is rela-tivelynew.
"We've been asking for light and portable fire-fighting equipment, and formation of fire-fighting teams on two-wheelers, for years now. Those equipment will finally arrive next year," he said adding that the demand for fire hydrants on city streets however has been age old.
The fire department sent an official request to DCC to install fire hydrants in the city six months ago, but the city corporation told the department that it is the job ofWater Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa), he said.
Then the department sent an official letter to Wasa requesting the same, but Wasa has yet to respond, he added.