Living with Fire, Ten Commandments !

 

--

“Animals need food, water and shelter. We humans need all those things, but we need fire too.” ― Richard W. Wrangham

“Fire is only your friend as long as you can control it! Without control, you have a powerful enemy!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

‘I know one sure thing about fire, it is ruthless”… Me.

Wrangham is so perfect, the only difference in all other animals & humans is, we use fire for making our lives better while every other living species prefers to keep away from the fire, a thing which we never notice or ignore. Mehmet, whose words of wisdom have always been by power play overs (plz google), is so perfect in warning us about the ignorance & I took ahead both of their wisdom, yes, fire is a dangerous thing! If you are wondering where this fire truck is going (sorry, pj) then last month there was news about a fire mishap in a Delhi hotel (well you can say latest or recent news) where nearly twenty plus lives were lost in that mishap! I usually read every mishap news with keen interest & especially when it’s related to buildings as that’s part of my profession (builder/ civil engineer) & I read about that incident in all the news papers & thought of writing about it (sharing) & thanks to few other topics which are dearer to me (tigers, cricket) somehow the fire thing took a back seat. And then again yesterday fire made headlines, needless to say for the wrong purpose & this time it was a mixed used building with gaming studio, bet clinic in Lucknow & again many lives lost! Now, I put aside all other topics (thankfully politics is never my forte & I like football but not a die-hard fan) & took help from Mehmet & Wrangham!

Ok, now you must have guessed its about fire accidents (though I don’t think it’s a right word) or mishaps & our attitude towards them! Before I start, I will ask a simple question to you, how frequently do you go to movies or to dine in restaurants? How many of you go to work in indoor offices? How many times you visit any commercial establishment in a week, for work or for casual purpose? How many of you own a well inetriored home? Oh yes, how often you travel to outstation & where you stay on such travels? I am sure the answers will be like, once in a month we go to the movies, once in a week we go to eat out, most of us we work in some office space & most of us have at least some basic interiors including cupboards’ & wall panelling & false ceiling at our home! And many of us travel because of work & few of us are lucky to travel as tourists, may it be wildlife or adventure or leisure & fun & mostly, we stay in some decent hotel property, are the replies I will get & even a few years back mine also would have been same!

Now, the second set of questions, what do you look at first or even once when you go to any movie theatre & restaurant? Every day when you come to your work place what's the first thing you think & while you leave the office what's the last thing you check? In your home interior have you thought about? When you book a hotel for work or fun, what things do you check before booking & what you check while actually entering that hotel?  And the answers will be, when we go to any theatre or hotel, we check the air-conditioning of the place, décor, cleanliness, toilet’s condition & ambiance as well cutlery in the hotel. When we visit any commercial building for work then we check the interior/ décor & lobbies as well cost of interior to know about the taste of the respective owner. When we come to our office, first we check whether the internet/ Wi-Fi is on & when we leave, we check the AC system is off & so are the lights. When we book any hotel for a work trip or for fun, we check location, room sizes, interiors, breakfast spread, free WIFI, TV & when we actually check we try to compare what we have seen on the website & what’s actual scene, that’s all! Again, these will be the replies which I will get (if somebody cares to write back) & I too would have done a few years back! You will be wondering what’s this has to do regarding fire mishaps, then all above question were targeted exactly about that aspect & the would be answers I am sure will miss most important part of being in every above place & that is, our ignorance, negligence or over confidence about fire safety, which is subject of my sharing.

First & foremost we people (read as Indians) are foolishly overconfident which we consider as our smartness & we love to save money even at the cost of our life & outcome is fire safety in any of above-mentioned places i.e. Home, office, hotel, cinema, restaurant, commercial spaces are not on our checklist! The single right answer to my entire second set of questions about what you check while visiting or booking a place should be, fire safety at the place & getting knowledge of what I should do in-case of fire or any such emergency! And another answer should be, I will check the legality of such a place, may it be a hotel or animation coaching class or a restaurant or cinema hall! Nobody checks this because we think we are born fire proof means no such thing will happen where we are sitting, or eating or working or sleeping & exactly this attitude is the reason which took lives of both Delhi hotel victims & recent Lucknow animation studio & vet clinic fire victim! I know, relatives of the deceased as well many readers will curse me for this useless outcome of my sharing but keeping full respect for your emotions, one, this is not judgement or conclusion, this is just one of the many facts if we want to avoid more such fire mishaps which are not mishaps but outcome of our ignorance! You will say what govt was doing, what fire dept was doing till the fire broke loose, why such structures are allowed to exist where no fire norms are followed & the list of questions is big but my question is who forced you to book a room in such hotel or enrol yourself in a classroom which is illegal & which doesn’t have any fire safety norms in existence. And why I am saying this is its your life which is going to get lost in case of the fire & not of the hotel owner or cinema hall owner of the coaching class building’s owner, & though he may get punishment for not doing his job! Just because you didn’t care to check about the fire safety norms of the respective place where you are going to spend some time by paying your hard-earned money, now tell me who paid the bigger price of fire you or the place owner or the govt & then you will (may) understand my point of view about fire mishaps & live lost in them!

Today, when I enter in any such mentioned place, especially the crowded ones like cinema or pub, the first thing I look around is for fire fighting equipment’s locations i.e. fire hose, extinguishers etc. Then I look for the location of emergency exits & way to reach there & then I decide where to sit in-case of a restaurant. This may sound weird & phobiatic but even though you are travelling by aeroplane every day yet they make you to listen the drill telling you the location of emergency exits & how to use them, right? So, because some criminal minded businessman fails to do it at his place who has stopped you to check these basic things which can be life saver for your life, is the question I want to put forward to you all!

If you check a bit then you will not be surprised that most of the cases of fire mishap where people have lost lives, majority of such buildings or premises were illegal, means built or put in use without proper sanction from the local competent authority for egg PMC for Pune city! And no wonder they don’t have any fire NOC type things in place meaning no fire fighting system in case of fire. At the same time a person who doesn't care to get any sanction for his building just think, what kind of quality work he must be doing & no fire starts on its own in any building. Usually, it’s a short circuit because of poor quality wiring which is the reason for start of fire & with no proper firefighting system or smoke detectors or any such thing in place till the time you realize there is fire it's too late for the occupants of such buildings. All this could have been avoided if you have patience & ability to control your greed to save little money in exchange of your own life instead blabbing govt or asking questions how such illegal building comes into existence as post your life is gone there is no value of such questions & their answers, right?

And why blame illegal buildings of unknown people, even today in our own homes how many people have checked whether there is a proper fire tackling system, none, is my answer! We spend lakhs of rupees for our posh interiors but we forget to keep one fire extinguisher in every room! In many flats I have seen the sprinkler pipes & their nozzles have been concealed as they look shabby as per the interior designer! As per building rules in every high rise building there has to be a fire fighting system according to height & volume of building which are of height more than 24 meters but even two storied buildings can be victim of fire & whom you will be blaming for it then but your own self, right? Rather, this is the reason for my sharing that we as sensible citizens & humans if we start taking some basic care & precaution then there will be fires but you won’t be the victim & for that may it be other’s building or your own home or office you have to take responsibility & act! So, here are some tips which actually you should grasp as, “10 Fire Commandments”, because if you follow them then it's your life which will be a better & longer for sure, here are they…

1.While you visit any place for work or entertainment or to stay (hotel room), do check its legality & sanctions.

2.Do ask questions about the fire safety norms they are following at their property & then book the hotel room.

3.While visiting any crowded confined place such as Cinema Hall or Restaurant, do look for firefighting equipments & fire exit arrangements & keep it in mind all the time while you are in that place.

4.Always choose a seat near to fire exit & keep wet tissue in you purse of bag as these small things comes handy in case of fire,

5.Always have emergency numbers in your cell phone stored for single touch call & most important keep your location setting on when in such a place so people can track you exactly if you get trapped in case of fire.

6.If you work in office or have your own set up then do conduct periodical fire audit & fire drill so you as well you colleagues are used to such situation & know how to act in case of fire,

7.In your residential building also get a fire audit done periodically, if your society is not doing so then do ask them in writing & write to authorities for such attitude of the society.

8.In your flat don’t tamper with fire safety arrangements if the builder has given & if he has not then do ask it before taking possession of the flat.

9.Even if your home doesn’t need special fire fighting arrangements as per the building rules yet take guidance from some expert about fire threat, for ex getting fire alarms/ sensors in every room. Do mind no fire starts with a warning bell & by appointment, you should know when it starts to control it fast!

10.Do have fire insurance as even after all such precautions, accidents can still happen & a fire insurance is the right way to recover some damage by fire. Do check the terms & conditions of fire insurance as it's a tricky document when you claim for damage & small errors of word can cost you a lot! 

 

I am deliberately not telling govt what to do on fire mishap aspect, to stop or say reduce fire incidences in buildings as it’s like speaking to a faceless entity & in govt everybody knows what should be done & there are enough rules for fire safety but still nobody takes responsibility & start acting, so be it! Friends, fire is an inherently important part of our life & we all need it but only when we control it in right way or else it knows only one thing, burn down whatever comes in its way & we definitely don’t want ourselves to be in the way of an uncontrolled fire, adios with this warning!

-

  Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/