A doctoral research of city-based academic offers insight into fire service in Nagpur city, hotspot analysis, fire incident frequency, and also highlights need for having unified fire service benchmarks. Researcher Dr Priya A K Pravin Singh, who holds the unique distinction of being the only female architect and urban planner in India to have ventured into inter-disciplinary research in fire service and urban planning, has also stressed upon the need for reassessment and restructuring of fire safety norms. Dr Priya Singh has done her PhD on the topic ‘Fire Service in Urban Area: A Case Study of Nagpur City’ from Department of Architecture and Planning, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT). She has completed her research under the guidance of Prof Dr Chandra Sabnani and Prof Dr Vijay Kapse at the VNIT department.

 

Sharing the details of the findings of her research with ‘The Hitavada’, she referred to her paper ‘Hotspot Analysis of Structure Fires in Urban Agglomeration: A Case of Nagpur City’ published earlier in MDPI journal. This paper formed an important part of her PhD thesis. “Efficient fire service planning holds the key to minimising loss of life and property, crafting resilient urban environments, and easing the burden on city governance. My research recognises the pressing need to restructure fire services with a holistic approach,” she said. Her study has foundational premise in integrating national benchmark data from Standing Fire Advisory Committee (SFAC) and Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines of the Union Ministry of Urban Development, dating back to 2015. She scrutinised fire service planning and spatial accessibility. The study revealed a direct correlation between fire occurrences, weather conditions, population growth, and challenges posed by urbanisation. The research introduced the hotspot analysis tool, which delineated spatial patterns of fire dynamics, highlighting statistically significant risk areas, and underscoring the random distribution of fire events. As far as hotspot analysis is concerned, Dr Priya Singh’s research finds 17 wards in Nagpur city to be in ‘very high’ fire risk zone, 43 in ‘high’, 44 in ‘medium’, and ‘34 in ‘medium’ fire risk zones.

 

The highest built-up density percentage was in high fire risk category. As observed in her paper, “The hotspot area with a very high risk zone int he central part of the city has a maximum of 39 per cent fires in mercantile occupancy, 35 per cent in residential, 12 per cent in industrial, and 8 per cent in businness occupancy. Other risk zones have maximum fires in residential structures, followed by mercantile structures. During the research period -- 2011 to 2020 -- the highest fire incidence frequency was recorded in 2019, and the least was in 2013 and 2020. The urban activities were restricted in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, resulting in a reduced fire incidence frequency, observed the researcher. 

 

Unknown tops list of fire causes As far as causes of fire are concerned, ‘unknown’ causes topped the chart with 48 per cent incidences categorised under it. This was followed by electric short circuits in 31 per cent cases, gas cylinder leakage in 14 per cent cases, ‘other causes’ in 6 per cent cases, and garbage fire in 2 per cent cases. While the electric short circuit causes indicated a gradual rise, gas lekage showed a declining trendline. Recognising that the maximum number of cases were categorised under ‘unknown causes’, Dr Priya Singh stated that the unknown cause had to be studied in depth for identifying the actual causes for intervention and implications.

 

 

Asked about recommendations based on her findings, Dr Priya Singh told ‘The Hitavada’ that it was necessary to have unified fire service benchmarks everywhere. Besides, reassessment and restructuring of fire safety norms should be done. “The population of the city has increased, built-up area has increased, technological changes have taken place, but the norms are old as compared to these developments. Hence, viability of benchmarking has to be done periodically to keep it time-relevant,” she added. Pointing out that the female fatality was higher than that of male in fire incidences because females are users of appliances that could become source of fire. Considering this, their level of awareness regarding fire safety must be enhanced. Besides, alertness at the ends of fire service personnel and users must be increased through continued focus on awareness programmes, she concluded.