I used to work on the 11th floor of a 15-storey office building off M.T. Khan Road in Karachi. Each morning while going up, I shuddered to think what would happen to me, and hundreds of other people working there, in case of a fire, and how many of us would be able to come out of the building safely in such an emergency.

Luckily, no such event took place during the 15 years I worked there, up to 1995. However, later, this building had two fires. The second fire gutted several floors, including the entire office where I used to work. The building, commonly known as the PNSC building, remained shut for repairs for at least two years.

Over the years, as much taller buildings have emerged, the overall ‘safety’ conditions in buildings in this country have been getting more and more hazardous and alarming. There have been two major building fires recently in Karachi, both of which caused not just a lot of material damage, but also loss of human lives. It emerged that more people died due to suffocation than burns. Smaller fires occur here and there all the time.

THE FAULTS IN OUR DESIGNS

Fires may be caused by, and often spread rapidly, due to the inherent design features of a building. But they may also be caused by the furniture, fixtures and contents within the building, the electrical installations, irresponsible usage and poor maintenance.

Each danger has its own peculiarities. Whereas some dangers can be checked, or at least minimised, we need to be aware of each, be prepared for an eventuality, and be assured the building is reasonably safe to enable safe exit for the largest number, keeping casualties to a minimum.

Recent fires in big buildings have resulted in more stories of tragedy. Most fires can be prevented and the damage they cause can also be minimised. But this requires architects, builders, municipal authorities and also us as users to do what is required

Fire is the prime cause of danger in buildings and of primary concern and interest to me as an architect. Most fires can be prevented, and the damage they can cause can also be minimised.

The overall layout of a building, particularly a multi-storey structure in which a large number of people live or work, has to be conceived so as to ensure alternate means of escape from virtually any point in case of a fire. These corridors, or ‘escape routes’ must be constructed of materials with minimum one-hour fire-rating, giving most people enough time to escape.

Buildings with large floor areas, such as those exceeding 10,000 sq ft at one level, must be further divided into ‘fire-zones’ or ‘compartments’ by means of fire-rated partition walls. A wall having a one-hour fire-rating can resist a fire for an hour before it collapses. All openings in these walls, such as doors or duct holes must have fire-rated shutters or dampers, to prevent the spread of fire from one zone to another.

A raging fire in one zone of a building can jump out of external windows and into another zone at the same level, which may otherwise be isolated internally. A fire may also jump to another floor. External openings and glazing, particularly at building corners, must therefore be cautiously sited, preferably with a safety-gap.

Office buildings with large occupancy ratios, as well as hotels and other heavily populated buildings, should be equipped with fire detection devices connected to an alarm system and, wherever possible, there should be a built-in fire-sprinkler system.

It is generally good practice to have clearly readable or understandable signs identifying all important rooms or spaces, including signs leading towards stairs and emergency exits.

Illuminated signs for exit in an emergency are required not just in the corridors but also within all large interior spaces where eight to 10 or more persons are at work, such as a conference room, library or lecture hall. Furthermore, signs prohibiting smoking must be put up in areas having a high fire-risk, such as a stationery store or library. Notices to prevent use of lifts during a fire should be posted at all lift entry points.

Except for an ‘emergency exit’ diagram fixed to the rear of the door in some hotel rooms, one is often quite unaware of exit routes or procedures from the most frequented of places. In addition to clear, unambiguous direction signs, written emergency evacuation procedures in English and Urdu should be displayed in prominent locations on each floor of a building. 

Self-explanatory diagrams clearly showing a floor plan and indicating the route to alternate exits should be a must in office buildings, schools, apartment complexes, auditoriums, etc. Such diagrams should be affixed at two or more strategic locations on each floor. In addition to assisting staff, visitors and other occupants in escaping, such diagrams can be used subsequently during rescue efforts. 

FANNING THE FLAMES

Building owners and managers should be made aware of the need for safety consciousness in their maintenance routines, and users should be educated in safety-drills for evacuation. Our building control authorities and other related agencies should exercise the utmost vigilance to ensure that safety standards are being met, not only in design and construction, but also in house-keeping, particularly of commercial or other public-use buildings.

These steps would go a long way to ensure peace of mind and to guarantee the well-being and security of the hundreds of thousands of people who live and work in our fast-growing cities, a trend likely to accelerate further in years ahead.

The detailed design and architectural finishes of all heavily used areas should be determined keeping user-safety in mind. Such areas include staircases and balconies. Hand-rails should be specially designed for those buildings where children are also expected to use them. Railings and parapet walls in general have to be sturdy, but also they need to be somewhat higher on upper floors in order to convey a feeling of added security.

Raised ledges built at entrance doors of apartments, and sometimes at toilet entrances (to prevent water flowing past) can be a nuisance and cause tripping, unless they are very prominent (of a different colour). Doors of clear glass, or any other clear glass panels running down to the floor should be patterned or otherwise obscured at about eye-level and below, so as to make them clearly visible, particularly to children.

In a fire, it is usually the contents of the building which burn first and fuel the fire, rather than the building itself. The quantity of combustible materials used within any given area is known as the ‘Fire Load’ and must not exceed the ability of the building structure to contain a fire.

Various furnishings in an office environment, or even at home, are potential fire hazards. Synthetic carpets and upholstery are extremely dangerous in a fire because they give out toxic fumes. It is essential also to keep combustible materials such as carpets, wood and fabric panelling out of escape routes, corridors and lobbies, and keep these areas free of all obstructions.

WHERE THERE’S SMOKE

As important as it is to contain a fire, it’s important to contain smoke or let it out of a building. Smoke can kill by suffocating even where a fire may not have reached. Internal openings in fire walls must therefore always remain shut. Smoke outlets must be provided in external glazing. These should open automatically to prevent smoke accumulation.

A common appliance such as a gas-based room heater can prove to be dangerous. Lack of ventilation in a room where a gas room-heater has been left on through a cold night has caused several deaths. This can happen when the gas flow is temporarily disrupted and the flame is extinguished. When the gas flow resumes, it fills up the room and may cause suffocation or, if ignited, it may explode. 

Lifts are a must in any multi-storey building, but must never be used during an emergency, because there is a high risk of lift failure, and the chance of suffocation of its occupants in case of fire.

Inadequate lighting in corridors, on stairs/landings and in such workplaces as kitchens, workshops, etc where sharp instruments or power equipment is used, may be the cause of accidents and injury. Poor lighting also leads to poor house-keeping standards, which may also be unsafe from a health viewpoint. 

GOOD EVERYDAY PRACTICE

Finally, I wish to bring to notice some of the things we as users do (or fail to do) in even the very best of buildings, which are either unsafe practices or lead to reduced safety levels over a period of time:

We do not carry out a fire-drill. Such procedures are especially necessary in a highrise or other high-occupancy building such as a school, and keep users informed about how to behave in an emergency and carry out a systematic evacuation without loss of time and without causing a stampede. This requires practice, and necessitates carrying out a trial evacuation regularly once or twice a year. 

Since lifts cannot be used in a fire, the stairs are the sole means of exit, and should be kept clean, free of obstruction and in a good state of repair. We do not maintain staircases and corridors; we clutter them.

Frequently old furniture, bundles of rejected material, etc are pushed out of sight, conveniently on to the landings of the fire-stairs. This is a dangerous practice and must be avoided. Moreover, emergency lights should be installed along key exit routes and at each staircase landing, and should be maintained in working order. 

Every day when we leave work, we leave behind a load of potentially hazardous materials, waste bins full of scrap paper, and loose paper lying around. This is all a fire risk. All that is required to ignite it is a cigarette butt not fully extinguished, or an electric spark. Desk tops and work surfaces must therefore be cleared each night. Drawings and loose paper must be kept to a minimum, and stored in suitable cabinets. Waste baskets must be emptied immediately after office hours. 

Our maintenance procedures are usually inadequate and lag behind. We must learn to do more than just emergency repairs after a breakdown. There must be a programme for preventive maintenance of a building, just as for a machine or a motor car. This always proves cheaper and safer in the long run, and increases the life of the building, besides having it look smart and attractive all along. 

When carrying out alterations, additions to or upgrading of existing premises, we frequently overlook original design features such as fire doors, alternative exits or smoke outlets, thus endangering the lives of future users. 

Lastly, we do not do a good cleaning job. Inside and around our best buildings, we frequently find litter which is not only ungainly to look at, but will feed a fire, attract vermin, and can also cause an accident, such as slipping over a banana peel. 

NEGLIGENCE ALL ROUND

One may well ask: Why do the building control authorities in our cities allow occupation of buildings without issuing a completion or occupancy certificate? Why do they issue a certificate without ensuring essential safety features? Why do the authorities ignore or allow changes in the plan and upkeep of buildings that make them potentially unsafe for its occupants? And why do they not ensure basic requirements such as a fire-drill?

All of us are to blame. The laws pertaining to fire-safety are inadequate and weak. They are easily and frequently violated. People are generally unaware of their responsibilities in maintaining a building, following safe practices, or of their rights when purchasing a property or seeing it being misused or abused later.

We are lucky that the most commonly used construction materials are cement blocks and concrete, which happen to be relatively fire-resistant. Otherwise, we would have burned entire cities down overnight.

The writer is an architect and urban designer, based in Karachi.
He can be reached at mukhtar.husain@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, December 24th, 2023