An initial probe into the Peeragrahi factory fire in Delhi has reported major fire norm lapses in the industrial building.

Atul Garg, director of Delhi Fire Services told The Indian Express, false information and delayed SOS calls are the main reasons why firefighting exercises have been thwarted lately. Speaking about several fire incidents in the last six weeks in Delhi he emphasized on the difficulties faced by firemen on the spot, and the urgent need to give basic fire training to the public.

“The message we need to spread is that the public shouldn’t be scared of us while reporting a fire. Whether the structure is legal or not isn’t our priority. Our job is to save lives,” said Garg.

Pointing to another factory fire accident that happened in Anaj Mandi, in which 45 people died in December, he said the early morning call stated it was a “fire inside a house”, because of which “two fire tenders needed to deal with a house fire were sent at first”.

“It was only after the fireman reached the spot to realise the magnitude of the fire, then more fireman was rushed in.” Garg said, “We had no clue it was a factory or there were people inside.”

On December 26, when a fire broke out in godown of a building in East Delhi’s Krishna Nagar around 40 people had a narrow escape. Within a couple of hours, DFS team rescued all of them. Garg said, “We got correct information that it was a building with a godown and there were people inside. A different firefighting technique, that focussed on rescue, was applied,” Garg added.

Garg also mentioned that DFS is also starting a “fire cell,” with three firefighters to train school students in fire safety techniques.

He said the plan came into being after repeated workshops in apartment complexes gave poor results with very few residents showing up.

“Children have a better grasping power and talk about things they learn at home. They become educators. We have written to the Director of Education to share with us contact details of all principals, We will hold workshops at schools to educated them on fire safety in public spaces such as restaurants and banquets,” Garg said.

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