Fire has often been described as the greatest servant but the worst master difficult to control when it turns into a conflagration, burning and destroying everything in its path. In the rage of its fury, it has no respect for anyone, not even the monarchy. Buildings as infrastructure along with people’s lives need protection against fire outbreaks. Data on fatal fire outbreaks in Lagos metropolis from2009 to 2014 were obtained from various rescue agencies in the state. Interviews were conducted alongside the structured questionnaires administered to a good number of citizens of the state. A statistical tool adopted in this research is the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The analysis made using the information from the agencies consulted shows that most fatal fires in homes often start in a bed, sofa, other loose fittings or clothing. The homes where fatal fires occur are rarely protected by smoke detectors.
INTRODUCTION
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products (Charles Jennings, 2000). Fires start when a flammable and/or a combustible material, in combination with a sufficient quantity of an oxidizer such as oxygen gas or another oxygen-rich compound is exposed to a source of heat or ambient temperature above the flash point for the fuel and is able to sustain a rate of rapid oxidation that produces a chain reaction.
Dry weather has been identified as the major cause of the recent spate of incidents while storing of petrol in living houses and markets, careless disposal of cigarette stubs, adulterated fuel, power surge, electric sparks and illegal connection of electricity are all sources of fire outbreaks.
According to experts, fire safety is considered to be dependent on: How individuals behave, how organizations behave, the vulnerability of the people exposed to the fire, the fire properties of products, the technical fire safety in the building, the fire service’s ability to respond to a fire.
MEASURES TO IMPROVE FIRE PROTECTION IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS
- Education, training and information to raise awareness and cautiousness of occupants, employees and those responsible for activities in a building
- Education is the most effective measure to prevent fires in public buildings. This is important for the general public, but even more essential for personnel. Both employees and company leaders need to understand fire risks.
- Systematic self-auditing of fire prevention work. It is important to make it difficult for arsonists to target the building and to check fire prevention in concealed spaces in the building.
- The early detection of any fire is clearly vital in public buildings. Education and information are also important so that personnel can deal with a fire in this phase – employees should be able to put out a fire at this stage.
- It is important to have automatic fire alarms for early detection and equipment and training so that evacuation can start and the fire be put out or its spread limited.
- It is important to have a high level of fire safety in public buildings since otherwise visitors are exposed to danger. People in the building have a right to expect that those who build or lead the activities there have considered the risk of arson and taken measures to protect visitors from it.
PREVENTION OF FIRE
The objective of measures for fire prevention is to reduce the probability of a fire starting in a building or premises. Studies of fires have shown that most accidental fires start from three main causes; (a) Malfunctioning of equipment (b) Misuse of heat sources (c) Human error By paying attention to simple precautions it is possible to reduce the chance of a fire starting and thereby increase fire safety. The Code is not intended to provide full details of these precautions as they are properly dealt with in other standards and specifications. It however draws attention to these in general terms to provide a basis for more positive actions. As far as the prevention of human error is concerned it is primarily a question of education and management. It is in the interests of the owners and managers of premises to ensure that the building occupants are aware of fire hazards and are encouraged to be careful in the handling of heat sources and equipment to avoid a fire starting.
- Enforce good housekeeping practices; this includes implementing routines for the regular removal and disposal of waste;
- Establish and maintain out-of-hours inspection and security procedures, including means of preventing arson;
- Carry out routine checks, inspections, and tests, including monitoring the maintenance of heat generating equipment that could cause fires, chafing of cables, self-heating of cables due to electrical resistance and checks on fuel supplies and storage.
- Issue and control work permits and associated procedures;
- Instruct and supervise contractors and sub-contractors carrying out construction and maintenance operations within the building;
- Avoid conditions leading to gas and dust explosion hazards;
- Maintain integration with other systems (e.g. ventilation, communications).
