Want to avoid a Kolkata-like fire? Learn how

Today’s incident in Kolkata has left the country shocked and in disbelief — a major fire in multi-speciality AMRI, a private hospital in Kolkata, killed 84 persons. And while this is not the first time that such an incident has occurred, it has reminded us that India is a country where almost no safety measures are followed.The country has a national building code, that sets rules for fire and life safety in buildings, hopitals, theatres and office spaces — but how many follow it, is a different story altogether. Find out how fire safe you and the hospitals/buildings around you are.[caption id="attachment_152576" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="How fire safe are you? Getty Images"][/caption]What your building must have If you stay in a flat which has more than 15 rooms, you must have all of these.A fire-extinguisherA fire hose reel that has an accessible and controlled supply of water to combat a potential fire risk.An automatic sprinkler system that is designed to actuate automatically, control and extinguish fire by the discharge of water.A pump capacity of 450 l/min at the terrace tank level, with a minimum pressure of 2kg/ cm³ What your nearby hospital must haveA fire extinguisher.Fire hose reel that has accessible and controlled supply of water to combat a potential fire risk.A wet riser, which is basically an arrangement for fire fighting within the building.An automatic sprinkler system that is designed to actuate automatically, control and extinguish fire by the discharge of water.A 50,000 litres underground static water storage tank.A terrace tank with a capacity of 5,000 litres.To see the PDF of the National Building Code of India 2005, click here.