Fire in public places...don't panic

Paul Messam

IT is often said that one never sees smoke without fire. That might be true, but sometimes the fire happens so fast that we never observe any smoke, only the heat, the blaze and shouts of, "Fire! Fire! The universal signal to fire fighters when one is in a multi-storey building on fire, is to hang a sheet out of a window to say, "Somebody's in here, come get me."

Fire has played an important role in man's life. Refining, forging and casting metals, preparing food, heating homes and offering sacrifices and incense, are among the things specifically mentioned in the Bible requiring the use of fire.

It is recommended that before one opens any window, if one is in a hotel or an apartment, one should take wet sheets, blankets, towels, and stuff them around the door. In fact, opening the windows could cause the heat and smoke from the hall to escape into other rooms.

Flair sought the advice of experts within the fire and safety industry on how best to deal with a fire in a public place including hotels, supermarkets, theatres, restaurants, schools and so on. Several companies and institutions carry out regular fire drills, and earthquake drills with the use of fire alarms, electric bells, handbells, fog horns and so on. These gadgets undoubtedly alert the occupants and they respond accordingly.

According to Devron Newman, director of the Marine Division at the Jamaica Maritime Institute, a person on board a ship would be exposed to a muster plan. "This plan has the position of every person on board with a particular duty to carry out in case of a fire", said Newman. He explained that this muster plan sets out where one should go on hearing the fire alarm.

"Each person will have a different task to perform, as he or she would be made fully aware of that sort of information", added Newman. He further explained that assuming that he is a crew member, he would know where the muster station is located, know where to find life jackets or life preservers, also the extinguisher, assemble in the designated area and do a 'head count'.

In relation to public places, assistant superintendent of the Jamaica Fire Brigade Samuel MacIntosh, pointed out that a good theatre, restaurant, supermarket for example would have some kind of fire detectors in place. They would also have fire alarms and clearly marked exits. These are a must:

A fire evacuation plan

Fire extinguishers

Hose reels, from which water can be had

A fire alarm system

Adequate escape routes...are required and necessary.

He explained that in the case of a fire in a public place, there are basic things which the ordinary citizen should put into practice.

First, "don't panic, keep a cool head, however difficult it may seem", advised Mr. MacIntosh. He explained that if one is in a supermarket when a fire starts, one may shout, "Fire' Fire!" to alert others. However, he advised that persons inside should not rush out wildly as this could create a stampede, which would only compound the problem. "Persons should go out in single file through the exits as we do not need a collision say with fire fighters entering the building."

He said there should be no jumping or running over tables or goods which would cause further panic.

If one is in a theatre, and is being overcome by smoke,one should get to the ground and crawl on the knees to get out as quickly as possible, without creating too much anxiety. "Hot air and smoke rises" he warned as Thomas Wolfe reminds us "Fire drives a thorn of memory in the heart."

Back to Flair