FIRE HAZARD: ARE YOU SAFE?

Residents panic as ground-floor eatery catches fire

Manama

Moving into a new apartment is often a refreshing change for many. But often, you might also find a very accessible eatery in the ground floor, which the builders rent out to a hotel business and so on. At first, it might look flowery and convenient, but in the long run, it could be a potential hazard waiting to explode. 

This was recently felt by some residents of Exhibition Avenue, when they found themselves in the midst of panic and chaos as they ran out of their homes and into the streets. Exhibition cafeteria, which is on the ground of floor of a building at end of the avenue, caught fire last evening at around 6.30pm.

Asian expat Junaid, who ran the cafeteria with five other employees, told DT News that he suspected the cause of the fire was a short circuit. Junaid said he spotted the smoke and fire when he was about to open the shop in the evening.
The civil defence team shortly arrived on the scene to put out the fire, and they managed to curb it catching up to the other parts of the building.

This might be one incident that did not raise an alarm, but it is not an isolated one. The chances of a fire is high in restaurants – and if they are in the same building, it is a danger waiting to happen to the residents.

Builders and developers usually rent out the bottom floor for that extra money, but is it worth juggling with the life of the building’s residents? Do these residents not realise such a danger, or do their voices get muffled under the kitchen bells of corporate deal? Or does this need a bigger fire for the authorities to see the smoke and implement stricter control measures to separate eateries from residential households?