Soon after receiving the information of an arson, Narayanganj fire fighters along with all their equipment rushed to the spot but, failed to control the blazing fire within a short time due to various obstacles on their way and on the accident spot.
Deputy Director of Narayanganj Fire Brigade and Civil Defense Abdullah Al Arefin told the Bangladesh Post, “It was necessary to have some structural and environmental facilities to extinguish a blazing fire but, we did not find any of those facilities at the fire spot”.
He complained that most of the old industries and residences in the district are faulty structures. Fire units rushing to the spot cannot fight a fire accident properly due to lack of water sources as well as free spaces to move the fire engines easily.
According to sources, there are at least nine thousand large and small industries in Narayanganj. Only sixty percent of them are licensed from the fire brigade. After taking a license from the fire brigade, the industry owners have to implement some rules in their factories. Most of the industries only take license to process their industrial activities.
Quoting some experience, a fire fighter said that once when he went to extinguish a fire, there were no fire extinguisher bottles or other equipment, that are prerequisite for getting a license from the fire brigade.
In Narayanganj, district industries have been constructed in an unplanned way. Most of the industries building are constructed with only one staircase on the ground floor and developed up to four to five stories in the same design.
Six units including a river unit have been working in the district but they cannot properly extinguish fire, as they have to wait in spot to find an extra water source.
According to fire brigade sources, there are one hundred and thirty five men and twelve vehicles’ of fire brigade among them five have the capacity to carry 4,500 liter of water and one has the capacity to carry 11,000 liters of water that can move anywhere if the road is broad or has no structural obstacles.
As per the rules of the fire brigade, each of the industry where flammable goods are produced or stored and the industries that are over populated must take a warehouse license. However, most of the industrialist ignored this law.
Besides, five percent workers of a factory are required to have training on firefighting, says the fire service department. Selecting several factories, Narayanganj Fire Brigade issued a letter arranging a training for five percent of their workers. However, on excuse of time the owners dishonored the letter, alleged Fire Brigade and Civil Defense Department.
Fire brigade members of the district believes, fire accidents originates and causes casualties due to faulty structure, lack of awareness and not having any equipment in the factory or multi-storied structures.
Most of the roads of the town and of the outskirts of the city are very narrow. As a result, each arson causes casualty in spite of sufficient effort of the part of fire brigade.
Mainly, unplanned town development and having no sufficient access is the principal cause of a blazing accident and peoples confined or stamped inside a building with no or narrow fire escape is the major reason behind casualties, the authority of Narayanganj fire brigade added.