The tragic fire accident at Gundla Pochampally on the city suburbs on Saturday has once again brought back into focus the inadequacies in safe usage of domestic gas cylinders. Seven persons perished in Saturday's blaze.
Fire Services officials say fire accidents in kitchens recorded a spurt. There were 110 kitchen fire mishaps in 2011 and 104 in 2010.
An interesting fact that comes to light after analysis is that people fail to turn off the regulator at night leading to explosions. Negligence is the main reason for increase in accidents in kitchens, they say.
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The main hazard associated with LPG is fire and explosion in case of even minor leakages. A few days ago, household articles were gutted after fire broke out in 15 huts at Dayanandnagar in Malkajgiri.
Fire-fighters had to struggle for three hours to control flames and officials concluded that gas leakage led to the fire. .
In a similar incident in 2010, three women died after two gas cylinders exploded in a working women's hostel at Indiranagar in Gachibowli. The security guard and two others tried to check the leakage source and in the confusion, one of them switched on the light that led to an explosion.
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“Safety measures are the only way to check fire mishaps and ensure that lives and property are not at risk,” said Regional Fire Officer G.V. Narayana Rao.