West Bengal on alert after Covid hospital fires in two cities

KOLKATA: The fires at two Covid facilities in Ahmedabad and Vijayawada, which left 15 people dead, had prompted the state fire department to start checking on the approximate 100 Covid care facilities in the state, a bulk of which are in Kolkata and suburbs. Fire officers are immediately checking the electrical connections and the fire-safety protocols in these Covid care facilities, which include hospitals, safe homes, hotels and even makeshift care facilities.
State fire minister Sujit Bose said: “These incidents are a wake-up call. I had spoken to the Fire Services director general after the Ahmedabad fire on Thursday and again this morning after the Vijaywada fire. We have decided to immediately send teams to check these Covid facilities to ensure that safety protocols are in place in each of these institutions.”
DG Fire Services Jagmohan said: “Fire officers are already inspecting the Covid facilities. There are around 100 of them, which have been identified for immediate inspection across the state. Since the preliminary cause of both the fire incidents are reported to be electrical short-circuit, our primary focus is to check them and ensure adequate fire safety protocols are in place at these institutions.” The DG said the inspections will continue next week.
A fire officer said the fire incidents have also prompted extensive planning at the Fire department’s Mirza Galib Street headquarters on the fire control and evacuation drill. “The primary issue, which needs to be addressed is the evacuation drill, when it comes to Covid patients. The health safety guidelines may make physical proximity a challenge for rescue operations. It is very important to sensitize the patients on fire drills. There are some suggestions that oxygen and sanitizers, both inflammable, should not be stacked in one place,” said the officer, adding that a meeting will be held soon involving all agencies which are deployed in emergencies.
Eight Covid patients died in a fire that broke out inside the ICU of Shrey Hospital in Ahmedabad city early on Thursday. A short circuit in one of the life-support systems in the ward is suspected to have triggered the fire. A similar tragedy struck at a Covid care centre in Vijayawada on Sunday, where seven Covid patients died in a fire.