Hot issue, cold fact: Commercial complexes lacks firefighting facilities

The frequent fire audits carried out by the Fire and Rescue Services department in the city have managed to force many commercial and residential apartments to comply with the fire safety norms, claim the fire department officials. However, they are quick to add that though they have managed to make many new builders and buildings comply with the active fire safety norms, namely, equipment and facility needed to fight fire, many are yet to comply with the life safety (passive) fire norms. 

The passive life safety fire norms are as important as active fire safety methods as they facilitate the escape of people trapped inside buildings under fire and also help in having a proper safety planning in cases of emergency. 

“It is true that many residential and commercial buildings are not complying with the life safety norms in their buildings. These norms include fire exits, fire exit stairways, setback areas, emergency lights at exit and stairway points, public address systems in large complexes, parking facility for vehicles, fire tender access, assembly points, smoke ventilation system etc,” a senior fire official told DTNext. 

With land being at a premium, compromises on the life safety measures are made by some builders, say officials. Several buildings in the city do not have a parking area. The fire exits and staircases are blocked by dumping materials. 

“This is an area where we need to work really hard to make them comply. If the authorities who provide licenses for these buildings had taken more care then it would have been stopped in the early stages itself,” another senior Fire official said. 

The officer said many buildings apply for the licence after showing all these facilities in place and after getting the licence, they convert the marked areas for commercial purposes. “Periodic inspection of these buildings are not happening and people happily violate the norms,” the official added. 

Fire service officials say they have even come across equipment that have not been checked for years and also some landing valves are kept without a proper connection. “The violations have been really high. But when we make our fire audits more frequent, many commercial and residential buildings started fixing the mandatory active fire safety equipment. However, they are still reluctant to have the passive fire safety facilities,” another official said. Another challenge for the fire and safety department is the management of old buildings, which have no fire safety norms in place. Many of these buildings are now being monitored by the courts. 

Fire service personnel say that most of these buildings, situated in historical and most important commercial areas like T Nagar and George Town, do not even have roads for fire tenders to access the spot of fire during emergency. “If a fire accident occurs during  peak hours, the damage could be extensive. The access and facility is minimal to fight fire in such areas,” the official added. 

The lack of co-ordination between departments like Chennai Corporation, CMDA and Fire Rescue Services is another reason for the failure to ensure full compliance with the mandatory fire safety norms.