‘Use of wrong wires spurs 85% of fire accidents’

Ponda: Chief electrical engineer of the electricity department, Stephen Fernandes, said that 85% of electrical fire accidents are caused by the use of wrong wires, but the blame is on electrical engineers. A short circuit can be avoided if people follow the standard guidelines, he said, adding that it is the people’s responsibility to follow the safety measures.
Fernandes was addressing engineers of the electricity department and the public works department after inaugurating a two-day seminar on electrical fire safety requirement organised by the Goa chapter of Fire and Security Association of India. Fire safety officers were also in the audience. The seminar was held at the civil engineering auditorium at Goa College of Engineering, Farmagudi.
“Every year, India loses 8,000 to 12,000 people because of electric shock and around 2,500 people due to lightning. While 1,200 to 1,500 fire incidents claim lives of around 25,000 people in India every year, only about 8,000 die in China because of such accidents. In the case of developed countries, only 400 to 500 lives per year are lost to fire incidents,” Fernandes said.
Citing an example, Fernandes said multinational companies have no fire accidents since they spend a lot of money on safety measures. “However, the Indian businesspersons are conscious about spending and use low-cost wires to maintain budget. They also compromise safety measures and guidelines,” he said.
The chief electrical engineer said that in fire accidents, people do not die because of fire but are killed by the toxic gases resulting from a blaze. “In India, 90% of companies cannot use the required gas to prevent blasts because it increases the cost of production,” he said.
Fernandes further said that when he was working for a private company, there was never a fault in joints, however, he said, there are many failures of joints in the electricity department.
The head of the department of electrical and electronics engineering at the GEC, Vinayak N Shet and national secretary of Fire and Security Association of India (FSAI), Ashok Menon also spoke on the topic.