Chennai: Fire alarms essential for homes too, says fire dept

Chennai: A couple of beeps from a fire alarm could have saved the lives of J. Venkatraman and his wife Soumya who suffocated to death after smoke engulfed their home due to an electricity leak on Friday. However, fire department officials said that besides a fire alarm, proper house maintenance to prevent a fire is also equally important.

C. Karthikeyan, Assistant District Officer, Fire and Rescue Services (South zone) explained that there were three parts of a house that should be specially taken care of to avoid fires, “The kitchen is the most susceptible to a fire, it is essential that a 1.5 metre distance be maintained between the stove and the gas cylinder but seldom is the norm followed. Second is the bedroom and the last is the pooja room.

The AC being switched on for too long or a lamp staying lit for long could lead to fire break. Regular checks once every three months or six months of the fridge, AC and gas cylinder are enough to avoid such incidents,” Karthikeyan added.

When asked about the importance of fire alarm installation Karthikeyan said, “We encourage commercial buildings to install fire alarms but we usually don’t suggest the same for independent houses because these cases are very rare.

Even people who are asleep wake up when they get a whiff of smoke and it takes three minutes for a fire to spread and that's enough time to get out of the house. It is only when the victim is under the influence of something like alcohol or maybe under medication then they might not wake up,” he added.

However, he added that it was essential to have a fire alarm in a house with old or sick people who might not be able to wake up instantly and escape.

Hemant Kumar, area manager of Astirevast Business Solution which deals
with fire alarms, said lack of awareness about the advantages of fire alarm is what results in such tragic incidents, “In my seven years of working in this field I have had only three customers who have approached me to buy a fire extinguisher for their homes and they had done an elaborate research on it before approaching me, but I’ve not had any customers buy fire alarms till date,” he explained.

According to Kumar, installation of a fire alarm will cost a minimum of Rs 20,000. “The control panel itself costs about Rs 7,000-8000, plus labour costs contribute to the total cost of installation.” he said.