Editorial | Another arcade fire!

Arcade fires in Kingston round about Christmas time have become eerily predictable. Seared in our collective memories are names such as Ray Ray Market, Oxford Mall, Redemption Arcade and Pearnel Charles Arcade, which have been scenes of infernos in the past.

Against that background, some pressing questions emerge: What lessons were learnt from those earlier fires? Has anyone been held responsible for any of those fires? What did the authorities do to prepare for the next market fire?

The experts say the best way to fight a fire is to prevent a fire. Therefore, it appears that the first line of action is for the authorities to determine the cause of the fire. Sometimes, the safety experts declare that arson is to blame, at other times we have been told about faulty electrical wiring, but most times mystery surrounds what triggered the fire and the event becomes the proverbial ‘nine-day wonder’.

No one is ever held accountable. Officials and sympathisers express the usual regrets and, after a pause for commiseration, the country moves right along, till the next fire when the cycle is repeated.

If the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Council (KSAMC) is serious about its role of improving the safety of the city, we expect that a proper risk assessment analysis of all markets would be undertaken. This is where they would get a sense of the vulnerable areas and hazards that exist. For example, are there safety breaches being committed in the markets, such as persons using open flames? Is there combustible material such as flammable liquid that needs to be removed? Are there security issues that need to be addressed?

CORRECTIVE MEASURES

Having done this assessment, the KSAMC would then need to introduce corrective measures. They could take a leaf out of the book of well-run private sector companies by introducing safety wardens in the markets, installing fire extinguishers and teaching vendors how to use them, as well as establishing a proper surveillance system. Egregious behaviour should be punished by sanctions, because such action will drive safety.

In a season when vendors expect to make their best sales, nearly 100 small operators who make their livelihood peddling wares in the Pearnel Charles Arcade are now sifting through charred and mangled items, while pleading for help. This one incident, where uninsured goods worth thousands of dollars have been lost, will spread a chain of pain across many communities this holiday season.

For those who have already moved on after the obligatory pause, because they don’t think a fire which is not in their immediate neighbourhood will affect them, think again. For one thing, the pollution emanating from such a blaze can have widespread effect by releasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, to the detriment of persons who shop and work in the area and even way beyond.

We submit that any fire of this magnitude should be a collective concern among all citizens, if not for the economic consequences, at least for the environmental implications of exposure.

What we have is an old challenge in urgent need of innovative solutions. A way has to be found to increase disaster preparedness within the market/vending areas, and this must necessarily involve public education and a new kind of responsive leadership within the markets. The essence of such a plan is to ensure that fire vulnerabilities are reduced and that, if a fire does occur, the impact on life and property is minimised.