Home fires : the real risk within

Starting June, last year, I have been doing fire safety presentations and demos at least twice a month, either at my office, or in residential areas, commercial buildings, and industrial areas.

I was due to host a presentation and demo at my office on 22nd March, 2020, but the MCO was imposed starting 18th March.

I wanted to write about this almost a month back, but staying at home, my mind has been running all over the place on a whole host of matters close to my heart, so that I got distracted.

Until I received this a little while ago, with a message from one of our fire safety advocates.

The message : another house fire and another child lost. Please give priority to this issue, too. 

In June 2017, upon waking up and, with a mug of coffee on hand, as was my habit, I turned on to BBC.

I was shocked!

They were carrying live coverage of a block of apartments, the Grenfell Tower, London, ablaze.

The fire started in a unit on the 4th floor, caused by a defective refridgerator, and spread up to the 18th floor in 9 minutes.

I live in an apartment since 2010 and, from the little I knew then, this fire defied the fire safety philosophy of high-rise construction.

It started me on a journey to study building fires and safety issues.

What I have come to learn and understand, and that which I wish to share with all of you, is :

1. whilst building fires today are more dangerous than ever before, most people, not fully understanding the nature of fire, wrongly assume their homes to be safe;
2.  once the nature of fire is understood, it becomes easier to identify the fire risk factors at home, and the preventive measures, most of which cost us nothing but commonsense, that we can put in place, thereby cutting down that risk by as much as 80-90%; and
3. the four stages that a fire will go through, which stage it is safe for you to attempt to put out, and the stage at which your only priority and concern must be to get everyone out.

So as to not to overload you with information, I will do this over several posts, each with bite-sized information.

I am also planning to do a live stream on this issue at a later date, so that there can be greater interaction on this very important matter.

I leave you with this video in respect of fire statistics in the country in February, this year.

Stay safe, please.

Posted in: Digressions, Friends, Home Fire Safety, Making This World A Better Place