By student journalist Chan Wooi Chi
It starts with a spark, then a flare.
At the sound of the smoke alarm, occupants should have escaped a house fire within 2 1/2 minutes.
This is because the combination of scorching flames and thick toxic black smoke could lead to unconsciousness within five minutes.
However, low fire safety awareness and the few number of fire safety equipment installed in Malaysian homes have become a contributing factor to the increase of deaths from fire.
A research study conducted by three lecturers from MARA University of Technology, exploring fire safety awareness level among the Malaysian public revealed that 86.7 per cent did not own fire safety equipment like fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in their homes.
The main reason behind the high percentage was because they never thought of it.
Tang Safety Enterprise Sales and Marketing manager Tommy Tang supported the findings of the research, relating it to the lack of sales of these safety apparatus for households.
“There are very few people who will walk in to buy a fire extinguisher for homes, even fewer will look for smoke detectors,” Tang said.
Landlord Tan, who owns a house on Binjai Road, shared that she never thought of installing these safety equipment until she attended a talk that showed her what could happen during a house fire.
“After that talk, I bought a smoke detector and fire extinguisher.
“But, I never got round to setting up the smoke detector and the fire extinguisher is still stashed away in the store room,” Tan said, adding that the wall of her house was not suitable to drill holes to install the smoke detector.
Responsible homeowners
Unlike Malaysia, countries like the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand require residential buildings to install smoke detectors prior to sale or rental.
According to Malaysia Uniform Building By-Laws (UBBL) 2012 Amendment of the Tenth Schedule, private dwellings of up to two storeys must have portable fire extinguishers while private dwellings more than two storeys and above must have both fire extinguishers and smoke detectors.
Unfortunately, Penang Fire Safety Division Fire Superintendent Abu Fataf bin Amdan explained that the law was not enforced at the present moment as it had not been read by the Parliament.
In addition, there is much confusion among the homeowners who assume that the installation of fire safety equipment lies with the regulating authorities like fire department or developers, and not themselves.
Fataf advised homeowners to take their own precaution to protect their homes despite the unsanctioned laws that do not make it compulsory for homeowners to protect their homes from being damaged by fire.
A check with Tang Safety Enterprise and a few online stores showed that a smoke detector costs between RM100–RM130, fire extinguishers ranging from 1kg to 9kg at between RM80–RM140 and a fire blanket costs around RM100.
“Every fire extinguisher has its unique code for easy tracing and it has a lifespan of five to seven years.
“Still, homeowners should always check their fire safety equipment every year to make sure it works,” Tang said.
Deaths from smoke inhalation
What many do not realise is that smoke inhalation can be fatal.
According to Fire Superintendent Fataf, 50 to 80 per cent of deaths from house fires are caused by smoke inhalation.
For instance, a recent house fire which happened in Subang Jaya took the lives of all its occupants due to smoke inhalation as they were trapped in by the iron grilles on the windows.
A quick look around a residential area along Codrington Road prove that many residents install iron grilles on house windows as a safety measure to prevent burglars from entering their homes.
With the lack of smoke alarm detectors and the presence of iron grilles that end up trapping people in homes during a fire, the situation becomes a potential death trap.
“It is fine to install these iron grilles, but always keep the keys in places that can be easily found.
“This is because at the end of the day, it is not the fire that kills but the smoke,” Fataf pointed out while reinstating the importance of smoke detectors in homes.
Could Grenfell Tower happen to us?
Following the incident of the fire at Grenfell Tower in West London, there has been talks among homeowners, raising concerns if their homes are equipped with enough staircases, functioning smoke and fire alarms, and if the materials used to build their houses could result in fires spreading fast.
For insulation purposes, highly flammable plastic foam between two sheets of aluminium foil were installed on the walls of Grenfell Tower.
However, verification with a housing developer company manager who wished to be referred to as Mr M confirmed that similar disasters will not happen in Malaysia because Malaysian homes do not need to be insulated.
“There are regulations that require developers to construct each unit in a way that it will be able to contain the fire for up to a few hours.
“So we take into account the material used for parts where fire are likely to break out,” Mr M explained.
Apart from that, high rise buildings are required to have a minimum of two fire exit staircases.
“Developers are required to add extra staircases if certain units are not within running distance to the staircase,” he added.
However, a look at some apartments and flats in Penang showed that many homeowners use the space of emergency staircases for either storage or have even turned the areas into indoor gardens.
Although new regulations will be implemented in the future, requiring homes to have fire safety equipment, homeowners need to change their mindset on fire safety to make their homes truly safe.
“We will only be able to minimise the impact of fire incidents when the public learns to take fire safety seriously,” Penang Fire Safety Division Fire Superintendent Fataf said at the end of the interview.
Chan Wooi Chi is a student journalist and is pursuing her 3+0 Bachelor of Communication from University of Southern Queensland Australia at Han Chiang College.
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