THE finding of the Fire Service and Civil Defence and the National Security Intelligence that Dhaka Medical College Hospital, the premier hospital of the country, grossly lacks fire safety measures is gravely worrying. An inspection of the hospital by the agencies on March 29 finds high vulnerability as there are inadequate emergency exits, outdated fire extinguishers and a risky operation at power substations. Out of the two emergency exits in the basement, one is blocked by stored items. Most of the extinguishers, without manufacturing and expiry date labels, have low pressure and are unlikely to work in fires. Cooking arrangements and stoves were found in the generator room, making it more vulnerable. The kitchen is also found in a shabby condition while the operation of the power substations is risky. Such a poor fire safety state in the hospital puts lives of thousands of patients, their attendants, doctors and nurses at risks. The pledge of the hospital authorities to address the issue does not sound assuring as they have done almost nothing although a number of fires happened earlier in the hospital.

On February 5, a patient died from smoke as a fire broke out in the hospital and on March 17, 2021, at least three died when they were being evacuated after a fire had broken out in the Covid unit of the hospital. The sorry state of the premier hospital points to a sorry fire safety state in other public hospitals, too. Hospitals, along with commercial and residential buildings, in Dhaka are believed to dangerously lack fire safety facilities while the city authorities appear to have no mechanism to address the situation. Most buildings violate the National Building Code, especially when it comes to fire safety. According to the National Building Code, every building must have an emergency evacuation protocol, heat detectors, flame and smoke detectors and first-aid and firefighting plans. The housing and public works minister in 2019 said that about 66 per cent of buildings in Dhaka violate building codes and most of them do not have proper fire safety measures. The fire service authorities inspected 1,162 buildings in Dhaka in 2022 and marked 136 building ‘very risky’ and 499 ‘risky’, suggesting that about 60 per cent buildings are either risky or very risky regarding fire safety measures. Every now and then, especially after fires, the authorities speak of taking effective measures to make the buildings safe. But, their efforts end up being futile.

The authorities must, therefore, take the issue of fire safety in hospitals seriously. The authorities must inspect all hospitals, public and private, at the earliest and make sure that hospital authorities have proper fire safety measures in place. The authorities must also inspect and identify the commercial and residential buildings that lack fire safety measures and take action accordingly.