- Urgent need for an audit of Colombo and suburbs
- Lack of city planning, crowding, and standards a concern: Colombo Fire Chief
- Substandard buildings, dwellings, and lack of fire prevention/preparedness an issue
- Dire need for a national policy on fire and emergency response
The fire which quickly engulfed a six-storey clothing store on Second Cross Street in Pettah on Friday (27) is a harbinger of the potential tinderbox risk the unplanned area of Colombo poses.
The incident once again highlights the fire and emergency response vulnerability of the city of Colombo, with the need for an audit seen as an urgent requirement to prevent greater tragedies.
Last week’s Pettah tragedy saw 23 individuals, mostly employees of the clothing store, hospitalised, with at least six in critical condition. While the ongoing inquiry is likely to take days to identify the source of the fire, suspicion is rife that a naked flame from a lamp within the six-storey building led to flammable material catching fire. There are also suspicions that substandard construction material, particularly external cladding on the building, may have contributed to the rapid upward momentum of the blaze.
According to the Colombo Fire Brigade, many of the victims suffered from burn injuries and smoke inhalation. “If we had arrived a bit later, some of those who were rushed to hospital may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning,” a firefighter at the scene said.
Unplanned and unprepared
Pettah, with its poor city planning and comprising a high density of commercial properties, street vendors, and dwellings, is a major fire hazard in the heart of Colombo, Colombo Fire Service Department Chief Fire Officer P.D.K.A. Wilson told The Sunday Morning.
Commenting on the incident, he said while the Police had helped to clear a route for the Fire Brigade to get on site quickly, the narrow roads and short turning radius of street corners and crossroads made it extremely difficult for Fire Brigade vehicles to position themselves to effectively firefight or launch rescue operations, particularly for multi-storey buildings.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning post-incident, Wilson said that each year the Fire Brigade had to respond to multiple fire incidents in the Pettah area, which needed to be put out quickly to prevent a major fire from engulfing the area.
When asked, Wilson said that there were other pockets of such high density construction and population in and around the city of Colombo, which included many shanties. However, he declined to name them.
“This part of Colombo is not a planned area. No consideration has been given for vehicle accessibility; there are hardly any fire gaps between buildings. Many of the existing buildings are old and lack adequate evacuation facilities or emergency exits. In Pettah, people have built structures as they like; few conform to any regulations. This area in Pettah, particularly the cross streets, are a major fire risk area,” Wilson explained, adding that due to such issues, fires tended to spread quickly and could spread along adjacent buildings due to them being built in such close proximity.
The Colombo Fire Chief also pointed out that many of the vendors and wholesale and retail outlets in Pettah did not follow any fire safety procedures.
“Many who are involved in commercial activities have not adhered to or implemented any fire safety procedure. We also see a need for a change in attitudes and respect for the city legislation from those who engage in commercial activity in the area,” Wilson said.
He also said that in Pettah, the unsafe manner in which goods were stored, including flammable material and dangerous chemicals, was a huge concern, as they could complicate firefighting and endanger the responders and public with toxic fumes.
Explaining the complexities in responding to the fire in Pettah, Wilson said that the Fire Brigade had been forced to cut multiple telephone wires and unauthorised street and building signage to position the fire trucks and elevate the rescue ladders to reach the fifth and sixth floor of the building.
The narrow streets and street obstructions make it difficult for the fire tenders and ladder vehicles to be effectively used. This situation remains true for some of the mushrooming high-rise buildings in Colombo and in the suburbs.
Wilson also pointed out that while the Colombo Fire Brigade had received many new and specialised vehicles, their deployability into high density areas like Pettah remained a challenge. Access and crowd control, especially once the Fire Brigade reached a site of fire, were issues the Fire Brigade had to deal with on a daily basis, Wilson added.
No fire awareness, firefighting capacity
Commenting on the fire hazards in places like Pettah and issues related to high density unplanned construction, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Group Captain (Retd) Kolitha Nissanka, who oversaw the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) Fire Brigade from 1996 to 2001, said that the lack of compliance in relation to building codes and fire regulations and the lack of awareness and fire preparedness had left many areas of Colombo vulnerable to increased fire risk.
Responding to a question about last week’s fire in Pettah, Nissanka, who is also a consultant on fire hazards, pointed out that basic fire preparedness could have prevented the situation from escalating.
“If you visit the stores in Pettah or in similar localities in and around Colombo, you will find that many of them do not have any basic firefighting capacity or a plan of action to respond to a fire. Basic training, a rehearsed plan, and a fire extinguisher could have stopped what happened at Pettah or at least controlled it till the Fire Brigade arrived,” Nissanka opined.
He also said that most structures which were in the Pettah area and many in other densely populated and built areas often did not comply with Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA) fire regulations.
Nissanka observed that residents of Colombo lacked fire awareness and that some did not even know the contact number of the Fire Brigade or the nearest fire station, resulting in delays in dispatching responders. He also stressed that the practice of neighbours and motorists gathering to ‘watch’ any fire or emergency incident did not help and in fact increased the risk of injury near the site of the fire.
“When bystanders gather and start filming with their phones or motorists slow down or pull over to see what’s going on, it builds traffic and makes it difficult for emergency services to access the site and set up a cordon. This kind of practice is unhelpful and adds to the risk. We should educate the public on this type of practice,” Nissanka opined.
Nissanka also noted that a national policy plan for fire prevention and firefighting was needed, adding that fire services under various city and municipality agencies should be streamlined, with equipment and training brought under one national standard to improve response and effectiveness.
Urgent need for an audit
Commenting on the incident and the risk posed to the city of Colombo by such unplanned, high density built areas, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP for Colombo and former State Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution Dr. Harsha de Silva said that there was an urgent need for an audit of building code and CIDA code compliance in Colombo and the suburbs.
He stressed that the Urban Development Authority (UDA), CIDA, and the Fire Brigade, aided by other State and city agencies, should conduct an audit as a matter of urgency to identify risk factors and high risk areas.
De Silva told The Sunday Morning that many constructions and buildings and some high-rise buildings did not comply with CIDA or building codes and as such were rife with hazards.
“We need an audit to be carried out by the UDA, CIDA, and emergency response services for compliance in the city of Colombo and the suburbs,” MP de Silva said, adding that he saw first-hand the complexity of the issue and the risks posed due to his involvement in Sri Lanka’s biggest emergency response service, the Suwa Seriya Ambulance Service, which is active islandwide.
