The Burning Building

"Bhaiya, what’s going on? Why isn't the traffic moving at all?" I asked the auto driver while returning from school that day.

The driver said, “I don’t know, ma’am. There seems to be a huge traffic congestion ahead. Maybe there is an accident or something. Ma’am, instead of waiting here, I think you should walk from here.”

“That’s not new in this city; it happens every day during peak hours—morning and evening. Today, it probably started a bit early, by 4:30 pm, not even 5,” I countered, thinking he didn’t want to wait or wanted to cheat me. “Can you please find out what’s the issue?”

“Madam, there is a fire accident; they couldn’t give me more details. You have to get down here; the auto cannot move any further. The road is blocked, and there is no way to turn around. Your society is just 500 meters away,” said the auto driver.

This time he seemed genuine to me.

“Thank you,” I thanked the driver while making the payment.

“Walk! So tired after work, again we have to walk,” I murmured and started walking unhappily after picking up all my belongings.

The road was jam-packed with vehicles of all kinds—buses, cars, autos, two-wheelers, vans, and fire trucks. One could hear the ambulance siren from afar as well. Many people were walking zigzag amidst the jam through the available space, like me. As I was tired, I just wanted to reach home and did not try to spend more time in the sun trying to find out more about the fire accident.

I dropped my bags and myself on the sofa once I reached home and asked for a cup of tea from my help before washing. “Didi, there is a fire accident at the opposite building,” my help told me, “the neighbors were discussing.” I picked up the TV remote and started searching for a news channel. Soon I found a local English news channel flashing the news “Fire accident at Carlton Towers” with live visuals showing the chaos in front of that building and people screaming. Then I realized that the fire accident had happened in an office building in front of my society, just across the road. Before I could comprehend anything, I saw a man on TV who was walking in front of me on that road. He was being interviewed by a media person. I could recognize him from the clothes he wore as I saw him just a few minutes ago.

Yes, the fire accident happened in an office building in front of my society. I was unable to control my curiosity. After a cup of tea, we hurried to our society entrance gate which is closest to the building; it was not possible to witness from far away. The entire place was heavily crowded. Some fire trucks were inside our society complex. The atmosphere was chaotic—with smoke, noise, water spraying, and police announcements instructing the people to move the vehicles to make way for the ambulances. Some people were holding bedsheets and asking people to jump from the building. It was so scary even to look at it; I decided to go back home with a lot of anguish and sadness. We glued to our TV screen to know more details of the incident.

So many people had lost their lives in that unfortunate incident, and about 70 were injured. The eight-floor building had many offices but lacked basic fire safety measures; emergency exit doors were locked, and had very narrow staircases and setbacks. The fire that had started from a short circuit on the third floor continued to engulf the fourth and fifth floors. Many employees became unconscious due to smoke. Some broke the glass and jumped to save their lives. While three people jumped to their deaths from the building, some survived with broken bones and skulls. Six others died due to burns and asphyxiation. Some tried to escape through the staircase, but most failed due to a stampede. Most of the time, when stepping out of the society, we always had glance at that burnt black building; it stood like a ghost for so many years without renovation, always evoked those painful memories. The horrible incident comes back to my memory even after so many years whenever I read or see a piece of news about a fire tragedy.

The news of that tragedy with so many heart-wrenching stories of survivors and relatives of victims made me teary-eyed every time I came across those articles.

Investigations point to three glaring violations of safety regulations from the original building plan. First, the original plan of the building envisaged wide corridors separating office units on either side with exit routes at the end of each corridor. However, the owners encroached upon the corridors to form one large office space and locked the exit routes, including the emergency staircase, which made it impossible for people to escape. Second, more than 10 diesel generators were installed on the terrace to power the mobile towers. Even worse, they had also stored several barrels of diesel on the terrace. Luckily, the fire was controlled before it could reach the terrace. Otherwise, the death count might have reached hundreds. Third, the common open area on the ground floor (setback) as per the original plan had been encroached upon by illegal shops and structures.

The most important thing is to teach everyone life skills and skills to manage disasters and tragedies. The analysis found most of the victims dead or seriously injured were highly educated, but not learned men; they all had the knowledge needed for their occupation but not the wisdom on how to handle the situation. During a fire or smoke, it is advised to lie down on the floor; the smoke will go up, or else put a wet handkerchief on the nose and mouth not to inhale the smoke.

School students must be taught survival skills and basic first aid. This will prove helpful throughout their lives. Fire drills should be conducted at offices and institutes regularly, but the participants must not be allowed to take part in risky drills. More government hospitals must be equipped to handle burn patients as this requires special equipment and training. At any social gathering that is not open-air, it must be made mandatory to announce the location of fire exits. In every housing society, office, and public place, we must keep fire safety equipment like fire extinguishers, etc., at convenient places and replace or refill them before expiry. People should be encouraged to check and complain if needed. To handle earthquakes, floods, and some sudden disasters, there are methods to prevent or escape that should be taught in our basic education. What is the use of having well-scored people on board who are incapable of rescuing themselves in that type of situation? It's time to think about that.