How To Prevent Electrical Fire Outbreak In This Year 2022

For those who could not follow my YouTube video on this topic, you can read through so that we can all make our environment electrically safe and free from fire outbreak in this year 2022. But if you still want the videos you can click here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIJFDR7px3w

Introduction
Electrical fire outbreak has become a major discuss among professionals within the built industry, the Lagos State Fire and Safety Services has said that 75% of most fire outbreak in buildings are as a result of electrical faults. With these series of fire outbreak in the years past, I expect the federal government through the federal fire service to commence serious awareness campaign and possible enforcement of some of the fire safety regulations to prevent fire damages which ranges from the loss of lives, properties to the tunes of billions of naira and even the loss of sources of livelihood.

An overview of some major fire outbreaks which were investigated and traced to electrical faults are as listed below:

1. Feb. 28, 2021: Oregbeni Market, Benin City, Edo State
2. Mar. 2, 2021: Nigerian Army Headquarters, Abuja
3. Mar. 5, 2021: Onitsha Plastic Market, Anambra State
4. Mar. 22, 2021: Tudun Wada Market, Gusau, Zamfara State
5. Apr. 8, 2021: Mofoluku Area, Lagos State
6. Apr. 26, 2021: Gas plant, Somolu, Lagos State
7. May 27, 2021: Footwear Company, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos State
8. Dec. 27, 2021: Residential and Shops in Ebonyi State
9. Apr. 15, 2020: Corporate Affairs Commission, Maitama Abuja
10. Apr. 8, 2020: Accountant General Office, Abuja
11. May 20, 2020: Nigerian Postal Service, Abuja
12. Jun. 22, 2020: Oba Market, Benin City, Edo State
13. Jul. 14, 2020: World Trade Centre, Abuja
14. Aug. 23, 2020: Adeniji Adele Market, Lagos State
15. Sep. 14, 2020: INEC Office, Ondo State
16. Aug. 13, 2019: Uwelu Motor Spare Parts Market, Benin City, Edo State
17. Aug 25, 2019: Shops in Nguru, Yobe State
18. Oct. 21, 2019: Santana Market, Benin City, Edo State
19. Oct. 28, 2019: Federal Inland Revenue Service headquarters, Abuja
20. Nov. 5, 2019: Mandilas Section of Balogun Market, Lagos
21. Dec. 22, 2019: Ekiosa Market, Benin City, Edo State

With this in mind, it has become necessary to give steps or ways by which these electrical fire can be prevented.

1. Electrical Design: Electrical design are pre-designs necessary prior to the commencement of the construction of a building. This design takes into consideration the expected load of the building and make adequate calculations for its cable sizing, protection devices, distribution board type and ratings amongst other benefits. Unfortunately, most buildings were constructed without an electrical design thereby putting it at a very great disadvantage in terms of electrical safety. So to prevent electrical fire outbreak this year, it is advised that proposed buildings must be accompanied with a standard electrical design/drawing while existing buildings without an electrical design should contact a professional engineer to come inspect their building and carry out power audit and compare with the installed cable size and protection devices to ensure it is within the statutory requirement. This is required for both residential and commercial buildings especially our public markets and shopping complexes.

2. Earthing System: This year, it is very important to take your earthing very serious. Most earth pits have not been tested or treated since it was installed, thereby defeating the purpose of its installation especially if it has failed. A good earthing system ensures that fault current flows through it without causing any damage to your equipment or possibly fire outbreak. Earth resistance test is advised to be carried out at least once a year for residential buildings, whereas for commercial buildings it is expected that the test be carried out at least twice a year (usually during the dry and raining season).

3. Fire Protection Devices: These are devices installed in a building to detect and extinguish fire whenever there is an outbreak. It also include manually operated cylinder fire extinguishers, which are expected to be installed at some strategic locations within the building. The most used fire protection devices are smoke detectors with break glass and fire alarm, fire hose reels and fire hydrants. It is expected that all residential buildings should have at least an installed smoke detector while commercial buildings should include fire hose reels as well as fire hydrants.

4. Fire Sprinkler System: This is usually triggered by the smoke or heat detector when there is a fire outbreak, it uses water to suppress the fire usually during the early stage of the fire outbreak. Therefore, it is advised that buildings mostly hotels and other commercial buildings invest in fire sprinkler system this year to help avoid any form of damage in case of an inferno.

5. Fire Suppression System: This is expected to be installed on all major commercial/industrial buildings. Unlike the fire sprinkler system, the suppression system does not make use of water but uses fire suppression liquids which contains chemical agents such as FM200 and are pressurized with nitrogen. The gaseous agent is initially condensed in liquid form and stored in compact cylinders, this makes the system easy to transport and store. So commercial and industrial buildings should look into this system and install in their facilities.

6. Fire Fighting Truck: Considering the slow response time of the federal/state fire service, especially to markets and other commercial business environments, it is advisable that market unions look into investing in fire fighting truck so that they can extinguish any fire outbreak within the market before the arrival of the state/federal fire service to avoid loss of goods and properties which usually runs into millions of naira.

7. Pay Attention to Warning Signs: This year, all Nigerians are advised to pay attention to any electrical warning signs in the building such as faulty socket points, smell of melting cable, flickering of lighting bulb, lights that dim when using certain appliances, appliances that gives dim light even during power outage and electrical points that feels hot during usage such as sockets, switches or fuse box. These are signals of electrical faults and should be attended to immediately to avoid any form of failure that might lead to a fire outbreak.

8. Overloading of Breakers: Circuit breakers on the distribution board should not be overloaded but must stick to the electrical design. Most distribution boards do not have spares, so when any future connections is to be included, most electricians will just add such connections to an existing circuit breaker without considering its rating, this should be avoided this year. For commercial building, it is advised that extension boxes should be avoided, this usually leads to the overloading of the 13A socket, hence tripping the circuit breaker in which it is connected to.

Conclusion:
I wish to conclude that electrical fire disaster can be prevented if adequate safety precautions are carried out, I have made it my call to ensure that this year 2022 will be the year with the least fire incident as a result of electrical fault.

Thank you.

Darlington Okoka