Sharjah
Most of us have read about tragic fire accidents in Dubai Marina and Abu Dhabi in February of this year. I read the community report on how some people tamper with fire extinguishers, too (“Fire alarms: Stop tampering!”, Gulf News, February 17). These reports made me wonder whether high-rise buildings have enough infrastructure in place to fight such fires — the most important being fire extinguishers.
I immediately looked for fire extinguishers in our building, my friend’s building and a few others, including some commercial towers. I was shocked to find that in all of these, the fire extinguishers were not maintained or serviced. The last time the extinguisher in my building was serviced, was in June 2013, and the next service was due in December 2013, which hasn’t happened till date.
It seems like these extinguishers go on for years without an inspection and may have been non-functional for extended periods of time. Isn’t this negligence on the part of building management? Negligence that can affect many lives in case a fire breaks out.
In the past, I have read about fire accidents where the fire engulfed the building and the loss of lives was massive due to the fact that fire extinguishers were not working. This places a big question mark on our safety.
I would like to highlight this issue and request building owners to ensure that fire extinguishers are inspected and maintained properly so that if needed, they are available and functioning. Otherwise, what is the use of installing them?
— The reader is a student based in Sharjah.
Be a community reporter. Tell us what is happening in your community. Send us your videos and pictures at readers@gulfnews.com
