Fire and smoke: on fire-security norms and buildings in India

Fourteen people, two of them, killed and 13 were injured A hotel fire in Burbaazar’s Mechua Market area in Central Kolkata On Tuesday (April 29, 2025). The fire engine had trouble reaching the crowded area. It seems, yet, many of the victims were alcoholic – smoke is as deadly killer as flames. Smoking rises quickly and will need to reach the lower areas of the building to avoid. The six-floor hotel had only one ladder, and the fire escape from the first floor. One person died after jumping from the building. That there were no other accessible means of escape, in itself, violation of fire safety norms. On Thursday, a historic city of Ajmer, a historic city of Rajasthan, came to light. A five -storey hotel caught fire in which four persons died. Some guests tried to jump out of the windows, and the fire engine had trouble reaching the crowded area.

The devastating fire in crowded buildings has become a disturbing regular phenomenon across India for the tragic loss of life and property, especially in Kolkata. There, opposition leaders have listed at least eight major fire in the last decade, and in 2011 the American hospital fire, which killed 89 people. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has talked about a gas cylinder explosion after Tuesday’s fire. He has also talked about having only a ladder. Ms. Banerjee has portrayed such a fire as accidents that could not be stopped. But the tragedy in Ajmer and Kolkata was completely worthy of stopping and mitigation could be more efficient. Many cities and metropolitan cities of India continue to see high amounts of commercial activities, but their security facilities are old. They do not follow the current fire and structural security norms. Fire Escapes and Emergency Experts are non-existence and structures use highly flammable substances from any other era. Unlike other metros, who have seen some redevelopment of internal cities in recent decades, Kolkata feels that the stage has been remembered. Immediate solutions may involve maintaining low-high pavements so that the fire engines can be allowed to retreat in buildings, and consider the use of withdrawal of metal stairs to serve as an emergency migration outside the buildings after careful evaluation by the fire safety authorities. There is also a case to equip firefighting teams with more breathing equipment so that more personnel can avoid people in such structures because their limited access routes can be filled with smoking.