FIRE incidents in homes and buildings are among the most fatal, causing the loss of lives and properties. About 15,000 to 20,000 fire incidents kill around 50 to 80 people every year in Malaysia.

However, according to Architect Centre Sdn Bhd accredited building inspector and trainer Anthony Lee Tee, most Malaysians remain apathetic or unaware of the risk of fires that are present in our buildings, including our homes, workplaces, schools, hospitals — just about everywhere.

Fire safety in a building is not just about installing fire-fighting equipment such as fire extinguishers, sprinklers and smoke detectors. It is also crucial that the equipment that has been installed is maintained in good working order, as many lives have been lost during fires due to faulty fire-fighting equipment.

“Negligence in maintaining these facilities will be the fatal error,” said Lee.

“It’s understandable that it’s not easy for residents to examine or check the equipment by themselves as that would require technical knowledge. But every stakeholder must be aware of the importance of these pieces of equipment in case of emergency and make the effort to ensure that they are functional,” he said during his presentation titled “Stop! Is your home a safety hazard?” at EdgeProp.my Symposium on Excellent Property Management 2018 on May 12.

Themed “Mistakes you CAN’T afford to make!”, the half-day symposium was organised by EdgeProp.my with partners Nippon Paint Malaysia and Panasonic Malaysia. Supporting sponsors were Gamuda Land, Red Ideas Sdn Bhd (Graaab JaGaApp) and Zurich General Insurance Malaysia Bhd. The event was also supported by The Edge Malaysia.

Based on his experience as a building inspector, Lee said it is common, for instance, to find that regular checks are not done and fire extinguishers in a building are not replaced — and this could delay the fire-fighting process.

“The first five minutes of a fire are crucial in saving your life. If you fail to extinguish the fire within five minutes, it will extinguish you. The smoke itself could kill you in two minutes,” he warned.

In a strata residential building, it takes the collective effort of every resident to ensure everyone’s safety in the building. All residents have to share the responsibility of keeping themselves and their property safe from fires. For instance, each resident has to make sure that the fire-fighting facilities in the building are functional and there are clear evacuation routes during fire incidents.

“Dysfunctional fire detection and control systems, no sprinklers installed in the building, damaged water sources such as fire hydrants and hose reels, as well as cluttered fire escape staircase are among what we have observed during inspections,” said Lee, who was a judge of EdgeProp Malaysia’s Best Managed Property Awards 2018.

He also cited a case where the sophisticated digital alarm communicator in the building, which enables the system to directly alert the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) when a fire breaks out, failed to work because it was faulty and no one had noticed due to lack of maintenance.

Elaborating on evacuation measures, Lee warned of the dangers posed by fixed window grilles, as there were many cases where victims of fire were trapped and failed to escape due to bolted-down grilles on the windows.

“Many install grilles to prevent thefts but don’t realise that they have closed an escape way for themselves. We must ensure that functional doors or window grilles with keys are installed in case fire breaks out,” he said.

Lee noted that, way back in 2004, Bomba had published the guidelines for installing grilles at home. “Property owners should follow the guidelines and consider changing their grilles at home if their existing grilles do not meet safety requirements.

“We think such unfortunate incidents will not happen to us, but everyone must understand that safety is never an option or a slogan. Everyone who stays and works in the building have to start the inconvenient conversation and take necessary action to ensure their safety,” he emphasised.

Many also assume that the buildings where they reside, work or spend their leisure time in — such as the mall — have obtained a Fire Certificate (FC). But this assumption could be a grave mistake, as the FC is not issued based on checks by Bomba but based on a declaration by the building owners or managers.

Fire hazards at home

Among the common fire hazards at home are electrical appliances, especially those that are not SIRIM-certified.

“Many of us make online purchases for all kinds of electrical appliances, from toys to gadgets. These appliances arrive at our doorsteps directly from overseas without SIRIM approvals. These electrical items can overheat due to lack of ventilation and catch fire,” noted Lee, adding that DIY wiring at home is also a fire hazard.

He also advised property owners to replace the metal hose on instant water heaters to rubber hose and engage a qualified electrician to check the specification of circuit breakers serving the home to meet the regulations specified by the Energy Commission or Suruhanjaya Tenaga.

Another fire hazard, especially in high-rise residential developments, is the centralised gas supply; hence, homeowners are advised to install gas leak detectors in the living room or dining room so they will be alerted of any gas leaks.

This story first appeared in EdgeProp.my pullout on May 17, 2018. Download EdgeProp.my pullout here for free.