A Nagpur-based fire engineer and a private forensic expert has filed an intervene public interest litigation (PIL) before the Bombay high court (HC) concerning the fire incidents in state hospitals. Referring to the Virar hospital fire incident, where 15 patients were charred to death on April 23 due to a short circuit in the air conditioning unit, the plea also suggests solutions to avoid fires in hospitals. The hearing is for the PIL is posted on Thursday.
Nilesh Ukunde, 53, the petitioner who is an engineer from the Central government run-National Fire Services College, Nagpur, said large amounts of alcohol in sanitisers and heavy curtains inside the ICU blocked cross-ventilation, this led to the spreading of fire. The intervention petition by Ukunde is based on the fire audits of several Covid hospitals in the state.
In the petition before the HC, Ukunde said he has visited around 35 Covid hospitals and had also visited the Virar hospital post the tragedy on the orders of the divisional commissioner, Nagpur Municipal Corporation and the fire audit of the Virar hospital states that alcohol settled on ceilings and can result in a fire due to a short circuit in the absence of cross ventilation. The alcohol is lighter than air and settles on the upper layer of the room, as per the petition.
In the Virar hospital case, there was only one point for entry and exit from the ICU, thus the patients were trapped. The hospital should have used a suction pump, every eight hours, for two minutes, to suck out the alcohol-laden air in the upper layer of the room, and thus the fire would not have occurred, said Ukunde in the fire audit.
{{/usCountry}}In the Virar hospital case, there was only one point for entry and exit from the ICU, thus the patients were trapped. The hospital should have used a suction pump, every eight hours, for two minutes, to suck out the alcohol-laden air in the upper layer of the room, and thus the fire would not have occurred, said Ukunde in the fire audit.
{{/usCountry}}The curtains in all ICUs of hospitals should be removed and only fire retardant cloth should be used, which was absent in the Virar hospital. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) to all hospitals which are being implemented in Nagpur hospitals, and such SOPs should be adopted by all Covid care hospitals in the state, said Ukunde in the PIL.