Assignment on Fire hazard in Dhaka city – case study of Nimtoli fire, 2010 (Addressing issues relating to disaster and poverty)

Course no. : 362 Course name: Sociology of Disaster

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Dr. Mahbuba Nasreen Syeda Novera Anwar
Professor Roll – 176, 6th semester
Department of Sociology Department of Sociology
University of Dhaka. University of Dhaka.

Date of Submission : 30th March, 2011

 Table of contents
1) Introduction
2) Fire
3) Fire hazard
4) Vulnerable locations for catching fire
5) Causes of fire
6) Some major recent incidents of fire
 Fire in BSEC bhaban
 Fire in residential buildings at old Dhaka
 Fire in garments factory
 Bashundhara city fire
 Slum fire
7) Loss and sufferings due to fire
 Loss of life and property
 Psychological problems
 Losing job
 Traffic congestion
8) Fire fighting services
 Fire service and civil defense
 Its aim
 Motto
 Objective
 Role
 Activities
9) Fire fighting method
10) Priority of evacuation
11) Fire brigade’s capacity and limitations
12) Some positive initiatives
 Demonstration of fire fighting
 Fire drill conducted in secretariat
 Construction of intelligent building
13) Failure of the concerned authorities
 Not finalizing the DAP for Dhaka
 Lack of enforcement of BNBC
 Absence of building office
14) Limitations of BNBC
15) Lessons learnt
 Building aspect
 Planning related problems
 Design related problems
 Construction related problems
 Maintenance related problems
 Regulatory issues
 Institutional aspect
 National aspect
16) Three levels of target period
 Immediate action programmes
 Midterm action programmes
 Long term action programmes
17) Case studies on Nimtoli fire (1-10)
18) Poverty and disaster
 Oxfam America
 Its vision
 Mission
19) Other aspects of the fire disaster
 Gender
 Age group
 Literacy
 Migration
20) Conclusion
21) References

 Introduction
A disaster is a perceived tragedy, being either a natural calamity or man-made catastrophe. It is a hazard which has come to fruition. A hazard, in turn, is a situation which poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or that may deleteriously affect society or an environment. Developing countries suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits – more than 95 percent of all deaths caused by disasters occur in developing countries.

In contemporary academia, disasters are seen as the consequence of inappropriately managed risk. These risks are the product of hazards and vulnerability. Hazards that strike in areas with low vulnerability are not considered a disaster. Disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability. Hazards are divided into natural and man-made.

Man-made disasters stem from man-made hazards (threats having an element of human intent, negligence, or error; or involving a failure of a man-made system), as opposed to natural disasters resulting from natural hazards. Man-made hazards or disasters are sometimes referred to as anthropogenic. A list of man-made disasters is as follows:

1. Sociological hazards
 Crime => Arson
 Civil disorder
 Terrorism
 War

2. Technological hazards
 Industrial hazards
 Structural collapse
 Power outage
 Fire
 Hazardous materials
• Radiation contamination
• CBRNs (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear)
 Transportation
• Aviation
• Rail
• Road
• Space

 Fire
Fire has been used by humans for cooking, generating heat, signaling, and propulsion purposes. The negative effects of fire include decreased water purity, increased soil erosion, an increase in atmospheric pollutants and an increased hazard to human life. The ability to control fire was a dramatic change in the habits of early humans. Making fire to generate heat and light made it possible for people to cook food, increasing the variety and availability of nutrients. The heat produced would also help people stay warm in cold weather, enabling them to live in cooler climates. Fire has also been used for centuries as a method of torture and execution. There are numerous modern applications of fire. In its broadest sense, fire is used by nearly every human being on earth in a controlled setting every day. Setting fuel aflame releases usable energy. Wood was a prehistoric fuel, and is still viable today. The use of fossil fuels, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal, in power plants supplies the vast majority of the world's electricity today.

 Fire hazard
A fire hazard is any situation in which there is a greater risk of harm to people or property due to fire. All fire related disasters inevitably cause upheavals not only in the physical but also in the social and economic context where they occur. Although a fire disaster need not necessarily reach catastrophic proportions, it will present some of the characteristic aspects of a disaster because of the highly destructive action of fire and of the considerable number of victims.

Fires cause the greatest loss of life and property in urban areas. Urban fires have devastating impact on communities. Unplanned urbanization has intensified the problem further. Casualties resulting from fires, regardless of their source or initial cause, can be aggravated by inadequate emergency preparedness. Such hazards as a lack of accessible emergency exits, poorly marked escape routes, or improperly maintained fire extinguishers or sprinkler systems may result in many more deaths and injuries than might occur with such protections.

Table 1: Extent of losses due to fire hazards in different years

Time Period Extent of loss (crore)

2002 Tk.112.21

2003 Tk.110.59

2004 Tk.213.78

2005 Tk.272.64

2006 Tk.238.76

Source: Bangladesh Fire Brigade and Civil Defense, 2005

From the table it is evident that the economic loss due to fire incidents is increasing gradually. A developing country like Bangladesh cannot afford the huge amount of loss caused by fire accidents every year. Especially in most of the cases the victims are the poor people of the society. They can hardly bear the dire consequences of these tragic accidents.
Moreover, fire incidents in shops, industrial and commercial buildings cause heavy toll of life and property. In the recent time, there were huge losses of property due to some big fire incidents in the garments factories. The major causes of those incidents were non- compliance of government's fire fighting and extinguishing law 2003. Unplanned urbanization and rapid industrialization are the major causes of a huge number of fire related accidents inflicting colossal damage to lives and property in the country every year.

 Vulnerable locations for catching fire
In recent times, a few locations or public gatherings have been identified as the most vulnerable to fire hazards in Bangladesh. The short-listed ones are as follows:-
 Residential area
 Ready-made garments factory
 Slums
 Market places
 Gas filling stations.

 Causes of fire:

 Loose wiring /Electric short circuit.
 Burning oven/stove.
 Careless disposal of burning cigarette and match stick.
 Mosquito coil.
 Chemical reaction.
 Spark from chimney.
 Dust explosion.
 Miss fire of engine.
 Flash of Lightning.
 Sabotage.
 Careless use of cylinder.
 Excessive heat.
 Friction of machineries.
 Boiler Explosion.
 Spontaneous Combustion
 Hot dust & hot material
 Unattended lamp
 Thunder
 Arson

 Some major recent incidents of fire
Fire in BSEC Bhaban:
A devastating fire broke out at the Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation (BSEC) Bhaban at Karwan Bazaar in the capital at about 10.15am on 26 February 2007. Within minutes the fire engulfed the entire floor and gradually started to spread to the upper floors, trapping hundreds of people inside. There were fire extinguishers on almost all the floors but nobody dared to use them. Finding no fire lift but a switched off lift, people from the first to the eleventh floors mad-rushed to the central staircase to go out off the building. The first batch of fire-fighters came in from the Tejgaon fire station after half an hour of ignition.

Twenty-five fire-fighting units from different fire stations arrived at the spot and worked frantically for more than six hours to bring the fire under control. Acute shortage of water and inadequate equipment hampered the rescue operation. The firemen had to bring in water from the nearby WASA Bhaban and the Sonargaon Hotel. The army and the air force commissioned three helicopters to rescue dozens of people stranded on the rooftop of the building. The idea of airlifting them was eventually abandoned as the rotors of the helicopters fanned the fire. Three persons were killed and more than 100 injured in this incidence. NTV, RTV offices totally burnt and went off air. Several witnesses said the fire originated from electric oven; while some others said it was sourced from electric short-circuit.

Fire in residential building at old Dhaka:
Nine people died in a fire at a five-storey building on Aga Sadeq Road, Dhaka on 4th April 2007. Among the deceased, eight were of the same family and the other person was a house help. Twenty others of the building were also injured. From witness sources it was found that during a power cut, fire triggered from a lit candle over glue used in shoe making. The building was a mixed occupancy building having shoe factory in ground and the residential units at the upper levels. Building was in a congested part of Old Dhaka and built on a very small piece of land surrounded by other buildings from three sides. The fire brigade units faced great difficulty in reaching the spot and could neither use powerful hoses from those sides nor launch rescue efforts.

Fire in garments factory:
The fire at a 10-story factory in the Ashulia industrial area, about 16 miles from Dhaka, started on the ninth floor around lunchtime, when most of the workers were outside. Local reporters who had canvassed hospitals said at least 24 people had been killed. Factory officials said they knew of about 20 deaths. About 5,000 people worked in the building, producing pants for customers in the United States and Europe, said Delwar Hussain, a deputy managing director at the Ha-Meem Group, which owns the factory. Fire officials were still fighting the fire, which spread to the top floor, into the evening as people gathered at the compound to look for relatives. Piles of clothes in garment factories are easily combustible.

Fires can be very deadly because some factory owners lock exits to prevent workers from leaving their machines. But Mr. Hussain insisted that the doors at the company’s factory had not been locked.
International labor groups have criticized the safety of Bangladesh’s garment factories. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said it would pay the families of workers killed in the Ha-Meem fire 100,000 taka, and the company has promised to pay another 100,000 taka.

Bashundhara city fire:
On 13th march 2009, Friday at around 1:45pm, a hell fire engulfed the upper levels of 20 storey office cum shopping centre known as Bashundhara City Complex at Panthopath, Dhaka killing 7 and injured 20 people. The top six floors were totally gutted. All fire fighting units of the capital and from its surroundings took about six hours to tame the massive blaze that raged through the Tower. Black plumes of smoke from the high rise spiraled upward, while blazing windowpanes, furniture, and other objects rained down on the pavement causing another fire in adjacent one storey furniture shop.

The building's own fire fighters had very little training and they could not control the fire at all. Though the building was equipped with sufficient fire detecting, suppressing, and evacuating systems but they were inactive during the fire. From the fire Brigade sources it was known that complex's water reservoir remained empty, the hydrants were useless as there was no water in the tank. Initially water was pumped from nearby Unique Trade Centre. The fire brigade received the first call at 1:35pm and sent a fire engine within 15 minutes, but did not have enough hoses or water sources to tame the fire. Fire fighters claimed that the blaze was brought under control at about 7:00pm. after five and half hours after the fire outbreak. Due to faulty fire fighting system, fire alarms set up at the building gave false warnings at least 886 times in the last two years.

The fire alarm on the 18th floor, where the fire broke out first, gave false alarm 18 times during the same period. As there was false fire alarms on many occasions the fighters of the building didn't care about those warnings. The probe committee that was formed to find out the cause of fire could not identify the source and cause of fire but mentioned gross negligence of the Bashundhara authority in managing the fire fighting system for the building.

Slum fire :
A devastating fire burned down at least 120 shanties in a city slum in Dhaka, leaving 1,000 homeless, on 8th January, 2010. Fire-fighting vehicles were dispatched as the fire broke out at Dipikar Mor slum at south Begunbari around 6pm. Fire fighters brought it under control just after 8:15pm.

There were no reports of fatalities, but some received burn injuries. Abdur Rashid, deputy director of Dhaka Division Fire Service and Civil Defense, said, "the fire spread to the slum following explosion of a gas cylinder at a nearby building." The fire first destroyed adjacent tin-roofed brick houses and then spread to clusters of bamboo huts. Nineteen fire-fighting engines were engaged in dousing the fire.

 Loss and sufferings due to fire

Loss of Life and property:
Since 1990, over 350 workers have died and some 1500 injured in fire-related incidents in garments factories in Bangladesh. Till 2000, there were more than hundred fires in factories in Bangladesh. More than 5000 workers were injured in these fires and 246 workers were killed. Besides these direct losses due to fire, there results huge intangible loss which remains always unestimated.

Psychological problem:
It is learnt that a number of survivors from a fire at KTS Textile and Garments in Chittagong, killing 62 workers in February, are reportedly suffering from psychological trauma. From Chittagong Medical College and Hospital sources it was learnt some of burnt patients were suffering from “post traumatic stress disorder” who needed long term observation along with psychotherapy for being fully cured. Experience says that those patients could become mentally deranged if proper treatment would not be provided at the initial stage. Similar consequences may hamper the lives of many more survivors of fire disasters.

Losing job:
After any devastating fire in any commercial or industrial units if the owners cannot restart their business after the incidence, then there remains fear of losing job of the workers of the concern organization which brings huge sufferings to the victims and their family members as well. Many a times, the survivors of a fire disaster can never go back to their previously enjoyed socio-economic status. Instead they acquire a lower status in the society and struggle against absolute poverty.

Traffic congestion:
Traffic movement in the vicinity of the fire occurrence become more or less to a standstill because of any fire. Where in normal situation the traffic movement in many parts of the city roads remains nearly standing condition, in case of any fire at city centres it creates heavy grid lock at almost all the roads nearby. The extent of such effect widens when there is the huge gathering of the onlookers at the site. The onlookers create all sorts of trouble in fire fighting and rescue operations. In these circumstances law enforcing agencies become literally helpless, which badly hampers in rescue and fighting operation resulting unfortunate losses.  Fire fighting services
Fire fighting services are provided in most developed countries to extinguish uncontrolled fires. Trained firefighters make use of fire apparatus, water supply resources etc. Fire prevention is intended to reduce sources of ignition. Fire prevention also includes education to teach people how to avoid causing fires. Buildings, especially schools and tall buildings, often conduct fire drills to inform and prepare citizens on how to react to a fire disaster. Purposely starting destructive fires constitutes arson and is a crime in most jurisdictions.

To mitigate such disasters at community level, community participation is important. To strengthen the resiliency of a community to natural and man-made hazards, before they become disasters, must first begin with a comprehensive risk and vulnerability assessment. Community vulnerability assessment tool (CVAT) is a useful method to assess vulnerability of a community to any hazard.
Model building codes require passive fire protection and active fire protection systems to minimize damage resulting from a fire. The most common form of active fire protection is fire sprinklers. To maximize passive fire protection of buildings, building materials and furnishings in most developed countries are tested for fire-resistance, combustibility and flammability. Upholstery, carpeting and plastics used in vehicles and vessels are also tested. Where fire prevention and fire protection have failed to prevent damage, fire insurance can mitigate the financial impact.
Fire Service and Civil Defense Directorate is an important service providing Organization of the Government People's Republic of Bangladesh. The present Fire Service and Civil Defense has been established in 1982 with amalgamation of the then Fire Service Directorate, Civil Defense Directorate and The Rescue Department of Roads and Highway. At present the department is running with the Agni Protirodh O Nirbapon Ain 2003 (Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting Law 2003). The department is flourished by the motto “Speed, Service and Sacrifice” under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The employees of this department always keep themselves standby as first responder for fire fighting, fire prevention, search & rescue, to render first aid, to send the serious casualties to hospital and to provide fire safety for the VIP's. The employees of this department remain standby round the clock. They are responsible for responding first during any disaster. They have been working hand in hand with all other government as well as non-government organization in the management of natural and man-made disasters. Needless to say that Bangladesh is a disaster-prone country. To cope up with the probable vulnerable situations, Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defense takes necessary steps.
• Aim:
The aim of Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defense is to provide training to the people with regards to preventive and precautionary measures of different types disasters, fight the fire, rescue trapped persons, render first aid and transports victims from vulnerable area to safer place acting as a first responding department.
• Motto:
The motto of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense is `Speed, Service & Sacrifice.’
• Objective:
a) To minimize the destruction of wealth and properties of the nation
b) b To minimize the number of casualties
c) To minimize the number of death.
• Role:
a) To fight all types of fire breaking out at any time day and night.
b) To extricate trapped persons from burning buildings, underneath collapsed structures, wrecked ship, launches and boat in water and all other situations.
c) To carry casualties and sick persons from home to hospital or desired destination by the ambulance of the department on payment of requisite charge.
d) To advise on fire prevention and fire protection measures for buildings, industrial and commercial installations etc.
e) To train employees of Government Departments, Nationalized Institutions, Autonomous Bodies and Public on fire fighting, first aid technique and rescue operation.
f) To render technical advice to Government as and when required.
g) g To render first aid to the injured people.

Activities:  To face the fire incident any time.
 To render first aid treatment to the incidental casualties.
 To provide rescue operation in case of damaged building, ship, launch, boat drowning etc.
 To assist related law enforcing agencies in case of unavoidable situation and emergency.
 To transport casualties and sick person to hospital through ambulance.
 To render training and provide suggestion to the building, industry factory and business centers regarding fire prevention and to take step with regards to precautionary measures.
 To offer ware house/workshop license and collect revenues.
 To provide training to the employees of the directorate on the topic of fire fighting, rescue and first aid.
 To render self-protective training to the labor, employees including general people of the government/semi government and different business institutions during peace time and combat.
 To provide training and suggestion about technique of protection from air attack to save the important government & nongovernmental organization, buildings/installations.
 To give technical support to the government about fire fighting and rescue activities.
 To maintain liaison and coordination up to international stage and join conference/seminar in view of Fire fighting and Civil defense affairs.
 To make plan of development and implementation.
 To govern planning about scientific research exertion of fire fighting and civil defense interaction.
 To preside over enquiry for exploration of fire breakout including other incidental cause and damages.
 To take preparation during peace time with extra man power (volunteers) & modern equipments for after disaster (earth quake) Operation.

 Fire fighting method:
• Cooling: By means of water, foam and carbon dioxide.
• Smothering: Stopping oxygen supply to the area of fire.
• Starvation: Removing combustible materials from burning area.
• Poisoning the flame: Through dry chemical powder extinguisher.

 Priority of evacuation
• The children & expected mother.
• The aged person
• The women
• The staff
• The officers.
• The head of the wings
• The safety & security personnel.

 Fire Brigade's capacity & limitations :
Dhaka city now has 13 fire stations equipped with about 20 vehicles including water carrying tenders, and pickup vans for carrying pumps. The agency has only two hydraulic ladders which can hose water up to the 14th floor of a building at best and the country does not have helicopters equipped to put off flames in high rises. The Fire Service and Civil Defense Department requires modernization and needs new equipment to fight fires past the sixth floor of buildings. The Fire Brigade says it needs turntable ladders, snorkels, foam-tenders, lighting units, emergency tenders, fireproof uniforms, and rescue ropes for fire fighting and rescue operations. Transportation to fires is also an issue due to narrow roads, low electrical wires and congestion.

The major complaint against the fire fighters is that they often reach the place of fire much later. Firemen can fight for about 30 to 40 minutes with their carried water in a single tanker, which might be too meager than the demand. In such cases they had to search for reserve water from nearby buildings or other sources which is seldom found to be sufficient. Though the FSCD has been entrusted with the responsibility of checking the status of fire safety provisions of buildings, the reality is that there is no instance that FSCD inspected any private high rise buildings to ensure its occupants safety from fire hazards in the building. Although the authority claims that it inspects government high rises as a routine work.

 Some positive initiatives
Despite their limited resources and capacity, the FSCD has taken various steps to keep people safe from fire as far as possible. On the other hand some committed owners have shown respect to the prevailing building code by constructing safe buildings for its occupants. Here some of those initiatives are cited.

Demonstration on fire fighting:
A demonstration on fire fighting was held in Dhaka Export Promotion Zone on 08 February 2006 in view to improving capabilities of the enterprises to protect fire accident and to create expertise of the workers of EPZ.

Fire drill conducted in secretariat:
The Fire Service and Civil Defense authority conducted a fire drill in the 21-storey building of the secretariat on 19 March, 2009 to educate the officials and employees about what to do in case fire breaks out.

Construction of intelligent building: There are 15 fully intelligent buildings in Bangladesh. All are built in Dhaka. These intelligent buildings have automated fire fighting and suppression systems, air conditioning systems, and access control with CCTV and intruder alarms.

 Failure of the concerned authorities
Buildings cannot be made cent percent fire occurrence proof but loss due to building fire can be minimized to satisfactory level by taking various measures amongst which planned development of cities and strictly regulated building construction are the major factors to be satisfied, Unfortunately in these regards the cities are lagging far behind due to the failure of the respective concerned authorities. The following facts point toward those failures:

Not finalizing the detailed area plan (DAP) for Dhaka:
The detailed area plan (DAP), the major component of the DMDP, could not be prepared in about 12 years, leading to unplanned urbanization. Being drafted in 1995, the 20-year DMDP plan was approved by the government in 1997 with retrospective effect, but it is yet to be materialized for the need of the DAP.

Lack of enforcement of BNBC:
Around 90 per cent buildings are being constructed in the capital city in violation of building construction regulations prepared on the basis of Bangladesh National Building Code 1993 (BNBC). Majority of the building owners have committed gross violation of setback rules followed by the urban development authorities due to lack of proper monitoring by the respective concern authorities.

Absence of building office:
Some 72 percent of high-rise buildings in the city do not have necessary arrangements to handle disasters like fire and earthquake, according to a survey prepared by an NGO. Rest 28 percent of high-rise buildings keep some arrangements and equipment to deal with fire and earthquake, but there was doubt whether those could be hardly used when needed. This situation emerged due to absence of any office that can monitor the safety aspects related to building construction, maintenance, operation, and above all occupational safety. According to BNBC there shall be an authority to be named as Building Office who would be shouldering these responsibilities. This office is yet to be established though following BNBC in building management has been obligated through amendment of Building Construction Act in 2006.

 Fire safety and some limitations of BNBC
Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) has been published in 1993 with a view to streamlining the building construction practices which was done before following various guidelines at one's will. BNBC provided sufficient guidelines to make a building safe in all respect including safety against fire hazards. Almost 16 years have passed after the emergence of BNBC. By this time technology has advanced a lot. Moreover this was the first effort of its kind. So in few cases some shortcoming in the BNBC may have surfaced. Some of those in respect of fire safety of buildings have been discussed below.

• BNBC did not mention categorically what type and extent of fire safety measures shall be incorporated in respect of type of occupancy, size of building, location of building and importance of building.
• Incorporation of fire hydrant from roof top water tank working under gravity does not ensure perfect solution for fire suppression requirement by water.

• Use of 50mm landing valve and hose is not common, which is incorporated in BNBC.
• Guideline for hydrant sizing gives result for using relatively higher sized hydrant.  Lessons learnt
Though fire in buildings are mostly colored as accidents, but in reality they are primarily caused due to some mistaken acts of human beings involved in the process of manufacturing, collecting, installing or maintaining any items or works that may have initiated a fire. The extent of loss due to fire can be minimized by taking various protective measures like detection, evacuation, suppression and running rescue operations. So for successful avoidance of fire occurrence in buildings and satisfactory achievement in protective measures and rescue operations the related factors should be flawless. But the incidences of fires and situation prevailing in fire related issues so far delineated reveal that in all aspects of fire avoidance, protection and rescue operations there exists more or less various problems, some of which have been listed hereunder:

1) Building aspect

Planning related problems :-

• High rise buildings lack of proper refuge areas.
• Adequate and proper escape routs are not provided.
• Inadequate width of approach road for fire engines to reach the building
• Underground reservoirs are mostly undersized for holding adequate water.

Design related problems:- • Fire hydrants may not work properly for faulty design.
• Building components are seldom designed considering fire resisting ratings. Construction related problems:-

• Lack of exit signals for escape route.
• Doors of escape routes are not made as fire doors.
• Use of substandard and unspecified materials causing fire and aggravating fire.
• Bad workmanship due to engagement of unauthorized working personnel. Maintenance related problems:-

• Escape routes remain blocked.
• Parked vehicles, unauthorized establishments etc. obstruct exits to the open air.
• Fire fighting detectors and equipments are seldom tested and checked.

Regulatory issues:- • Absence of regulatory authority to care for all safety aspects of building.
• Unauthorized construction of buildings of mixed occupancies. 2) Institutional aspect
The authorities and the institutions responsible for urban infrastructural development and various service providing activities suffers from manifold problems. Incapacitation of and lack of cooperation and coordination among the institutions or the authorities intensifies the fire related hazards.

• Incapacitation and lacking of concerned authorities
• Lack of sufficient fire fighting equipment and personnel of fire brigades.
• Supplying sufficient quantity of water by the Water Supply Authorities.
• Controlling quality of building materials impairing fire safety by BSTI.
• Failing in finalizing detail area plan for the cities by the concerned development authorities.
• Lack of coordinated and integrated efforts among concerned authorities for holistic development
• Absence of building office to regulate building development and maintenance activities.

3) National aspects

• Poor initiatives for capacity building and performance improvement of the concerned authorities.
• Lack of initiatives for sustainable development in a planned, integrated and coordinated manner.

 Three levels of target period
The problems so far surfaced up in various levels of activities are not difficult to solve. Planned approach toward mitigating the problems identified will bring holistic preparedness in managing the anticipated fire incidences in buildings. It will not be wise to take all the steps at a time rather implementation of action plans within multiple target period will be more effective. Herein all the suggested action programs in this regard are categorized for implementing in three levels of target period as below.

01. Immediate action programmes:

* Improving capacity and performance of fire brigades

* Improving management of traffic system

* Vesting the responsibility of Building Office on an existing Department experienced in building development activities throughout the country.

* Finalizing detail area plans for Dhaka and subsequently for other cities and urban areas.

* Obligating rain water harvesting in all buildings. At first in Dhaka and subsequently it will be done in other areas.

02. Midterm action programmes:

* Motivating building owners and developers to install fire safety measures in buildings.

* Registering professionals and licensing all contractors related to building development

* Development of street hydrant system by water supply authority.

* Capacity building and performance improvement of all regulatory authorities, academic and technical institutions concerned of building development.

* Updating BNBC incorporating comprehensive fire safety codes.

* Establishment of Building Office.

03. Long term action programmes:

* Establishment of Building safety research centre to formulate and aware all safety aspects related to building industry.

* Taking steps for introducing forensic engineering in engineering curriculum and training programs.

* Establishment of independent National Building Commission.

 Case studies :-

For doing a number of case studies on the Nimtoli fire of 3rd June, 2010; I have visited the location and have drawn a snowball sample. That means, people whom I have interviewed have led me to other eye-witnesses of that night. I asked a few open-ended questions in search of true life-stories related to the fire hazard. Some of them have also expressed retrospect opinions over future calamities.

I shall now present the case studies that I have conducted in Nimtoli :-

Case study one:
Haji Mohammad Guljahar is a 45 years old businessman, who is the owner of the most devastated house due to the Nimtoli fire. “43, Nawab Katra” is a five-storied building which has a transformer just in front of its entrance. Moreover, the owners had allowed a chemical warehouse to rent the right-hand side room on the ground floor. Mr. Guljahar expresses his utter regret about not paying much concern about that chemical storage. None of the residents of that building ever speculated such degree of devastation. 11 members of the land-owner’s family died on that night. Mr. Guljahar is left with only two of his brothers. None of the women and children could survive the calamity. The family resided on the top-most floor of the building, which made it extremely difficult for them to escape. They were burnt alive. Fortunately, the three survivors were not at home. Mr. Guljahar could no longer hold back his tears while he spoke about his brilliant son. He was an HSC candidate that year. His proud father had gone out to attest his examination documents. Let alone the property loss which estimates approximately 20- 25 Lack taka; there is nothing more intolerable than a father’s grief over his teen-ager son’s death.

The family still considers itself as well-off. Mr. Guljahar did not apply for any governmental or political help. They have renovated the house on their own. All the urban facilities, such as electricity, gas line, water supply etc. were severely damaged. They had passed terrible time after the accident. He holds grudges against the government inspecting team as they seemed to blame the cooking fire more confidently rather than accepting the irresponsibility of not ensuring the safety of electric transformers of the Old Dhaka.

After facing the worst nightmare of his life, Mr. Guljahar has promised himself never to risk any of his tenants’ lives by allowing any such hazardous warehouse in his building. But he exclaims over the carelessness of the Rajdhani Unnoyon Kortripokkho (Rajuk) as none of the land-owners have ever received any warning about not allowing such establishment in the residential areas.

As far as financial loss is concerned, he had to rebuild the whole building and had to find new tenants for all his apartments. Nobody willingly came to rent apartment because of the stigma that entailed the accident. He wishes he could ensure them with better fire extinguishment facilities or fire exits. However, he had to depend on financial support from elsewhere and bank loans. This definitely affected his family’s financial condition.

Mr. Guljahar expressed his sadness by saying, “everything is Allah’s wish. It is my bad luck, nothing else. But it is also true that anybody in this city could have faced similar consequences. I had nothing to do…”

He wants a better regulations from the government as far as chemical storage is concerned. All kinds of safety measures must be taken by the fire brigade. On that day, he mentions, fire brigade did come quickly, but they had no way to come closer to the building. Their fire vans are normally very large, but the roads in this area are narrow. What the fire brigade needs immediately are smaller sized vehicles for fire extinguishment. The fire-fighters were unorganized. The relief distribution is nevertheless corrupted or biased. Mr. Guljahar concludes his reminiscence by expecting that, some positive changes in these aspects will be inspired by my report.

Case study two :
Shanta Amin, 17 years old, HSC candidate. She lives in 43, Nawab Katra now. Her family shifted here a few months later the renovation. At the time of the momentous fire, they lived on the opposite lane. Shanta is an eye-witness. She informs me her dangerous experience of that night.

“I thought the time of Keyamot has arrived! I screamed loud. It had become so hot that I was sure there must be meteor rain outside. Chemicals came through our windows and flooded the floors. It was apparent much later to me that, all these are caused by fire.”

Her mother tells me that, Shanta was under trauma for over a month. She could not attend her college. Many of her classmates died that night. Her best friend, Alifa, lost her mother. Alifa will not be able to appear in the HSC examinations this year.

Shanta along with her family ran through their stairs, but they halted in the third floor. The stairs were congested and many became injured while rushing downstairs. Due to the unexpected situation, Shanta could not take with her anything valuable. She left behind her laptop, mobile, books, clothes and what not. When at midnight they returned home, many of their valuable things were missing. It would be hard enough for the family to buy those things again in near future.

Shanta feels grateful to her relatives who have always supported the family. She moved to stay with her aunt for almost 2 weeks after the fire. They had also provided financial support to her parents.

Case study three:
Mohammad Hasib Ali, age 26. He owned a general store which was burnt down at Nimtoli fire in 2010. He wasn’t in the shop at that time. He was in the mosque nearby. There he witnessed many of the glass windows being shattered by the heat of the fire. He came down running to his shop. There was nothing left but ashes. It took him 2 months to gather financial support from everywhere he could manage. His overall loss is estimated approximately 3 Lack taka.

Case study four :
Mohammad Baset (75) and Hamida Khatun (60) are the parents of two victims of the Nimtoli fire. Their eldest son, named Mohammad Taj Miah used to run a decorator company which had its office on the ground floor of their own building. The rest of the family resided on the top-most floor. Taj Miah underestimated the danger of the fire while he was shuttering himself in the shop. He thought the shutter would spare him from the smoke. But alas, when the shop caught fire he could not lift up the hot shutter. He was, much later, found dead, leaning over his working desk. His father could not bear the shock and fainted.

The rest of the family did manage to escape once they received a call from Taj Miah. It was a huge trauma for the family to discover that Taj could not escape himself, but did save his family in the last moments of his life…

While the family members were escaping to the next roof-top through their windows, the elder sister of Taj Miah was in the shower. Her name was Mahrufa Parvin Baby. She was lest alone in the house. Soon she saw flames outside her window, soaked the curtain and wrapped it around her body. But she was burnt eventually.

The family is Urdu-speaking. They may had some difficulties to express their worst nightmare to me in Bangla, but it was easy to read a mother’s grief over her dead children. They mentioned financial loss just for once. It is almost 20 lack taka. But the loss of their loved ones is something more tragic, more valuable loss they could reminiscence.

“Bolte bolte dukkho lage… Shorkarer Magistrate aissha shob leikkha loye gechhe, tobu kono shahajjo pai nai. Killyagga lekhe, killyagga TVte dekhai ?? Shantona to ami chai nai, chai nai…” says the old mother.

Her grandson is even more innocent while expressing his loss. Tamam, 4 year old son of the late Taj Miah, says, “Parachute niye akashe jabo – abbu ke niye ashbo – fufu ke niye ashbo.”
Mohammad Baset expresses his gratitude to Allah. “Allah jodi aamgo hayat rakhe to bachum, aar naile hokley ek loge maara jamu.” He later said, “Keyamot! Allah’r gozob. Sijdaay pore koilam, Allah amare tumi maaf korio.”

The trauma was way too brutal for this senior couple. They never expected such distress. It was an emotional torture for them, for the rest of their lives. Financial loss has been tremendous as well. But all the relief help is being received by their daughter-in-law. They have observed gradual change in her attitude towards them after she has gained economic support. However, it seems more like family problems. But they have evidence against the political bias towards some victims when it comes to financial help. For this reason, their grand-daughter, Asha, who has lost her mother, Baby; has not yet received any financial help from any source; whereas, the wife of Taj Miah is quite well-off now.

The trauma-stricken family has come back to normal lifestyle. They have renovated the house quite nicely. This time they have introduced fire exits for escaping such hazards. Their windows have grills that also have gates. By unlocking these small outlets, one can easily jump down to the street. But the elderly couple would still be vulnerable to such further hazards.

Case study five:
Shopna, unmarried, 25 years old. She doesn’t belong to a well-off family. 4 of her family members live in a one bedroom house. She lives with her mother, sister and brother. The women share the same bed. Their daily expenditure is met by her father’s pension. The night of the tragedy still scares her a lot. She heard massive burst of the transformer which is very close to their house. Sudden darkness spread everywhere, and then extreme brightness occupied the scenario. Shopna, along with her family, ran for life.

“We could see massive tides of chemical following us. It was poisonous to breathe.” Shopna spent whole 2 days at her cousin’s house. When they came back, there was nothing intact in the house. Everything was burnt into ashes.

The overall loss could be almost 2 lack taka. They received 30 thousand taka help from political sources.

Case study six :
Samina, housewife, 35 years of age. Mother of 3 kids. They owned a grossery shop which was burnt down. It used to be an extre family income. Now they depend on the income of her husband, which is barely enough. The only asset intact till now is the Steel wardrobe. The total loss is about 4 lack taka, whereas the financial help was around 60 thousand. Relatives are supporting them in every needs.

Case study seven :
Kakoli, housewife, 25 years old. She was pregnant during the disaster. Now she has a child. 8 members of her family were dead. The day I visited Nimtoli, it was the birthday of her brother, who also died. They had arranged a Milad to cherish his memory.

She says, “Allah pak-er iccha… amra ki-E ba korte pari. Ami oi obostha niye chute ashchilam ma-baba ke ekbar dekhte. Jokhon dekhlam, chinteo pari nai…”

She lives in her father’s house along with her husband and son. Everyday she cherishes her family’s memory in every corner of the house. She is still worried about their safety if another such calamity occurs.

Case study eight
Arif-ul Haque, 40 years of age, businessman. He lives in a nearby building which was not damaged by the fire. But they had run out of their house the moment they were aware of the devastation. Mr. Arif took his family to his wife’s maternal house in Savar. When they left their house, none of them could take anything with them for emergency needs. For this reason, when he came back after 5 days to demonstrate the losses, he noticed that a major portion of his cash savings was missing. One or more intruders had robbed their house in their absence. Gold jeweleries were missing while its boxes lay down on the floor, scattered. Mr. Arif could not estimate his approximate financial loss. As none of his family member was killed by the accident, he did not receive any major financial help, whereas the fire did cause him a great loss. However, he feels grateful to Allah that all his family members are safe and sound.

Case study nine :
Himel Ahmed. He is a student of Borhanuddin Degree College, Old Dhaka. At the night of the Nimtoli fire, he was studying in his room, which faced towards that transformer. There was a window on the left-hand side wall of his room. Fortunately, that window was attached to a roof-top. However, the window had thick rods of grills. When the transformer blasted, Himel was shocked by the overwhelming noise of it and was thrown away towards that window. For a couple of moments he could hear nothing but noises in his head. His parents and brother came running towards him. Within 10 minutes, they had opened their main door to run down by the stairs, but instead they saw a massive congestion in the staircase. People from every floor were jammed everywhere. Seeing no hope of surviving, Himal’s father started to find out alternate exits in the house. Himel could never imagine of breaking that window grills, which he apparently did. With utter surprise he tells me, “Manush mone hoy musibotey porle eibhabei raasta khuje paay! Kibhabe amar haate eto bol ashlo, ke jane…”

Himel and his family jumped through the window and landed on the next roof-top. They passed a few more roofs until they found a safe place for shelter. He mentions about many of his neighbours who had been injured that day while trying to use those chaotic stairs for escaping.

Case study ten :
Baani Saha, 23 years old, married. She is a new resident of this area. But her cousin sister, Nipa Rani, used to live here back then. Nipa caught fire and had burnt a major portion of her upper body. She was admitted to the Burn unit of the Dhaka Medical Hospital. After 2 long weeks of struggle with immense pain, she died at the age of 20. Apparently, the majority of the people who were there at the time of ignition had died, and left behind very few survivors or eye-witnesses.

Baani lives in a constant fear of such fire disasters. Even though it may not occur at the same location over and over again, but the trauma is not easily perishable. Old Dhaka is increasingly being vulnerable to such disasters, whereas government does not seem to materialize any of the proposed measures to prevent fire hazards. Baani expresses her retrospective opinion about future fire disasters. “If any such emergency occurs, first of all I will grab my mobile, savings, gold jewelery or similar valuables and wrap all these in a saari. In doing so I would be able to escape from the hazardous place and contact my family members for help.”

 Poverty & disaster :
Disasters, and the way we respond to them, can be catalysts for social change- a chance to create lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. Poverty and disasters are closely connected. When a disaster strikes, government as well as non-governmental organizations must move fast to meet people's emergency needs. They should work with those devastated communities as they rebuild for a better and safer future. The aim should be to help people become less vulnerable to disasters by addressing the underlying causes of the poverty that put them in harm's way. A comprehensive response to disasters must include the following:
• Meeting people's basic needs
• Helping people improve their means of earning a living
• Improving public health
• Advocating for people’s rights
• Working with communities to reduce the impact of future disasters
Extreme climate-related events have a direct impact on the welfare of households. The frequency and magnitude of those shocks appear to be closely linked to increasing vulnerability of households and communities in developing countries. Yet, the link between natural disasters and living standards is complex and causality is difficult to capture empirically. Among other reasons, there is a two-way relationship between the vulnerability to natural disasters and poverty, and disentangling the direction of the causal impacts is rather challenging, especially in terms of the intensity of the effects of the events and not only their incidence. This paper pursued two main goals. First, the empirical analysis estimated the relation between natural events and social indicators at the local level, establishing a causal link whenever possible. Second, analysis was carried out at the household level in order to determine the potential role played by coping mechanisms to influence long-term impacts on welfare.
Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice; caused by disasters. Together with individuals and local groups in more than 90 countries, Oxfam saves lives, helps people overcome poverty, and fights for social justice.
Vision: A just world without poverty
Mission: To create lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and social injustice.

 Other aspects of the fire disaster

Gender affects vulnerability. Women are more likely than men are to hold low-status jobs or jobs in the informal economy, which often disappear after a disaster strikes. Women are also more vulnerable to disasters because of their roles as mothers and caregivers: when disaster is about to strike, their ability to seek safety is restricted by their responsibilities to the very young and the very old, both of whom require help and supervision (Lisa et al, 2005).

Age group is another criterion for analyzing social vulnerability. Both young and old people may be unable to respond to disasters on their own (Clark et al., 1998). Older people also tend to be more reluctant to evacuate. In addition to the physical difficulties imposed by evacuation, older people tend to be distressed by the prospect of leaving their own homes and living in group quarters (Lisa et al, 2005).

Literacy makes the people more aware about disaster and thus affects disaster management to a great extent. Illiterate people are more likely to be too much dependent on their fate. They sometimes behave stubbornly during the evacuation process. A literate person can not only save his/her valuable documents etc. but also can help others to survive.

Migration has proved to be closely connected to fire disasters. Once destroyed by slum fire or any such fire disasters, people tend to move to another place in search of safe shelter. Sometimes they migrate locally, at other occasions they might cross the district borders. There is a common trend in Bangladesh to move to the wife’s maternal house. There they stay for extended period of time. This is one sort of indirect dowry. However, migration does pose greater challenges for the fire victims and survivors. It is like a new beginning for them at a changed environment, with very little or no asset.

 Conclusion

Human being invented fire for better living, and developed building structures for comfortable shelter. With the passage of time mankind's race for more comfort and better living resulted in faster development in building construction along with its various service systems like electricity, water supply, sanitary drainage, mechanical escalators etc. Increasing trend in population growth coupled with poverty laden economy provokes people to live in urban centers. Shortage of urban land coupled with high demand of building infrastructures compels construction of high rise buildings. Exorbitant cost of land and callousness of concerned regulating and planning authorities encouraged owners to construct buildings of bigger floors and levels than the rules normally permits. In this way the urban areas predominantly the Dhaka city has turned to a chaotic city entangling its dwellers into the almost all sorts of manmade hazards of life threatening. Fire is one of those hazards whose occurrence increasing day by day mostly in buildings. In Dhaka fire is becoming an unmanageable threat particularly in high rise buildings mostly constructed violating the national building code. This report describes the various incidences of major occurrence of fires in various locations drawing the pictures of the causes and finally put some suggestions to overcome the situation.

Buildings cannot be made cent percent fire accident proof but loss due to building fire can be minimized. With a view to minimizing loss due to fire in building; its planning, design, construction, maintenance, changing occupation, alteration, and demolition practices shall be strictly regulated by an exclusive designated office. As per guidance of BNBC a Building Office shall be immediately established to regulate the building construction practices and ensure all safety aspects in buildings including fire safety. Urban development authorities shall devote themselves in development of urban planning and permitting or rejecting the building construction only. Fire Service and BSTI shall build their capacity for satisfactory performance. Professional registration and licensing authorities shall be strict in selecting and authorizing personnel for respective jobs. Building owners and developers shall be committed to developing safe buildings complying all rules and regulations of the land concerned. City dwellers need high-rise buildings for comfortable living but not to get charred in a fire.

 References

 Nasreen, Mahbuba. “Disaster Research : Exploring Sociological Approach to Disaster in Bangladesh”. Paper published in “Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology”, vol. 1. no. 2. July, 2004
 Islam, Md. Sayeedul; Raza, D.R; Islam, Md. Saiful (BUET). “Analyzing vulnerability of a community to fire hazard : A case study of Ward 72”
 Bernard, Klaene. “Structural Firefighting: Strategies and Tactics”. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2007
 Hall, Richard. “Essentials of Fire Fighting”. Fourth Edition. Stillwater, OK: Fire Protection Publications, 1998
 Lisa, K. Flax, Russell, W. Jackson and David, N. Stein (2002) “Community Vulnerability Assessment Tool Methodology” Natural Hazards Review Vol. 3
 Masellis, M. Ferrara and M.M. Gunn, S.W.A. (1999) “Fire Disaster and Burn Disaster: Planning and management”. Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters - vol. XII - no 2.

 www.wikinews.org
 www.wikipedia.org
 www.thedailystar.net
 www.wikibooks.org
 www.nytimes.com
 www.bdresearch.org.bd
 www.fireservice.gov.bd
 www.oxfamamerica.org
 www.compassion.com
 www.banglapedia.org
 www.bdnews24.com
 Google search
 Yahoo search