More than 24 fires been reported across the country: Majority of fires caused by electrical shorts

KATHMANDU: Fire is just as important to human life as the sun, water, and wind. When mother is cooking or father is lighting a cigarette, whether it is to burn incense in the temple or to burn the body at the crematorium. We require fire for small to large projects. Sadness arises when these necessities become the cause of human death.

As there are more winds during the months of Chait and Baisakh, the risk of fire increases.

Even if we only consider the incidents reported in various media from Baisakh to Mangsir, it appears that there have been more than 24 fire incidents across the country.

More than 12 people were killed in those incidents, and millions of dollars in property was damaged.

Baisakh: On Baisakh 12 (April 25) 2079, there was a fire at Rajan Group Company Pvt. About 8 million was damaged in the fire.

Jestha: On Jestha 9 (May 23), a fire broke out in a shop in Bhote Bahal, Kathmandu. On the 30th (June 13) of the same month, 85-year-old Nid Kumari Magar died of suffocation due to an electrical short in a house in Shailung Rural Municipality of Dolakha.

Shrawan: There was a fire incident on Shrawan 18 (Aug 3) & 26 (Aug 11) 2079. Badimalika Municipality-8 Ratuda of Bajura and Dakneshwari Municipality-3 of Saptari caught fire due to an electrical short. The fire caused a loss worth 11 lakh rupees and the house and shed of 8 families in Saptari were burnt to the tune of 14 lakh rupees.

Ashoj: On Ashoj 28 (Oct 14), a fire broke out in the pulpy juice industry of United Beverage Company in Ratnanagar Municipality-10 of Chitwan. Similarly, a gas leak caused a fire in the Chowmein industry of Dhulikhel, causing a loss of around 12.5 million.

Kartik: There was a fire in three furniture industries of Dang on 8th of Kartik. In the same night, the police said that 3 furniture industries in Ghorahi and Umesh Marg of Dang broke out due to electrical leakage.

A fierce fire in Kailali’s Chhaimaila Bazar on the Kartik 12 (Oct 29) destroyed six shops. According to the District Police Office, the fire started at Himal Mobile Gallery around 7:30 a.m. as of an electrical short

On Kartik 30 (Nov 16), one person was killed in a house fire in Madhyapur Thimi Municipality-6 Raitole of Bhaktapur. Ashmita KC, a 25-year-old resident of the same house, died when the three-story mud house built of bricks and wood by Atmaram KC and Harisharan KC caught fire unexpectedly.

On the same day, a fire broke out at the Nabil Bank branch in Kohalpur Municipality 11.

Mangsir: Looking at the incidents reported in the media, this month has seen the highest number of fire incidents and loss of property and people. On Wednesday evening on Mangsir 5 (Nov 21), Mahottari, a sudden fire broke out in the shop due to an electrical short. On Mangsir 8 (Nov 24), three children were burnt to death when a fire broke out at the Islam Kamada, bedding shop at Mysthan Chowk in Gaur, the headquarters of Rautahat.

A fire broke out on Mangsir 10 (Nov 26) at Bir Bahadur’s shop in Khotang and the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s Chitwan district office on the same day due to an electrical short. A power outage caused a fire in New Plaza and Kapan in Bagdol, Kathmandu, on the Mangsir 23 (Dec 9).

When we examine the fire incidents that occurred on different days within the same year, we discover that the fire started due to an electric short, a gas leak, or a wire wrapped around a pole, but the cause of the fire has not been revealed anywhere. However, the majority of the incidents are the result of an electrical short.

How to avoid short circuit?

According to Suresh Bhattarai, a spokesperson for the Nepal Electricity Authority, housewives should first be aware of themselves in order to prevent and control fires caused by electrical shorts.

According to him, the most common causes of electricity shorts are loose wire connections, bare wires, electricity leakage, and housewives’ mischief.

According to Bhattarai, to avoid fires caused by electrical shorts, check the loose connections of the wires on a regular basis, turn off the power sources after finishing the work, and notify the local electrician or the electricity authority if there is a problem with the electrical wires.

Protection against short circuits

Short circuits pose a danger of shock and fire. Fortunately, your home’s wiring system has various means in place to safeguard against these dangers.

Circuit breakers or fuses use an internal system of springs or compressed air to detect changes in electrical current flow. They are designed to break the circuit connection when any irregularity occurs.

Ground-fault circuit interrupters, or GFCIs as they’re commonly known, provide a similar function to circuit breakers.

They also sense changes in current flow but are much more sensitive than breakers, automatically shutting off the current’s flow at the slightest sense of fluctuation.

Arc-fault circuit interrupters protect against arcing, a phenomenon that occurs at loose electrical connections and causes electricity to jump between metal contacts.

These devices anticipate short circuits and shut the power off before it can reach a short circuit condition. Where GFCIs protect against shock, AFCIs are a better solution for preventing fires caused by arcing.

-Tenzing Dolma Tamang