Poor maintenance of old neighbourhoods, warehouses and industrial complexes may be linked to electrical fires

Duval Messien warned in a statement against poor adherence of basic protocol for electrical fault prevention including earthing, such as those applicable in the EU which stringently enforces maintenance protocols.

More than 60 per cent of respondents to a recent survey said they did not understand that conventional earthing system over time could become redundant or ineffective.

The findings of recent survey were staggering and as such did not understand the need to and a staggering 80pc either did not know when their earthing system was last checked or acknowledge that it has “never” been done.

“In Dubai, temperatures in summer sometimes hits a sweltering 50 degrees Celsius and it is not uncommon for earthing pits to dry up in less than three months. During these months, older residential neighborhoods with high density living, warehouses, souqs and labor camps are most at risk as a single spark can spread rapidly and cause significant damage to Life, assets & livestock,” said Sonjib Banerjee, technical director at Duval Messien.

The specialist went to comment,” In the recent fire at Deira over 180 stores caught fire due an electrical short circuit in an air-conditioning unit, this problem in particularly alarming in old neighborhoods of the city, with high cluster densities such that fires if they happen, may suffer from slower emergency team response times, with the added risk of spreading rapidly.”

“High traffic congestion and increasing density of population mean that those in greatest need may be the hardest to get to. In such high risk neighborhoods, prevention is quite frankly the only cure.”

“We support the Civil Defense authority in the recently announced campaign to tighten the warehouse safety regulation in the city in light of fires in Al Quoz area, this reflects the fact that the number and size of warehouses has dramatically increased because of the increased economic activities in Dubai. The campaign is expected to intensify inspection targeting companies, buildings and work sites to ensure that they are complying with the safety rules and storage conditions, especially storing of flammable materials and explosives such as firecrackers, chemicals and gas cylinders”, said Banerjee.

Dubai’s fast-paced growth is being fuelled by rapid influx of residents and this directly proportional effect on the nation’s infrastructure. Flouting safety measures by contractors and poor maintenance are undoubtedly the main cause of fires. - TradeArabia News Service