Search and rescue efforts continue on the 8th day following the earthquake disaster that successively occurred in Kahramanmaraş and affected 10 provinces. Tent cities have started to be established for earthquake victims in the earthquake zone where over 29 thousand citizens lost their lives. Experts, warning against the risk of fire in tents, stated that a bucket of water should definitely be kept outside the tent to extinguish a possible fire. OSH Specialist Dr. Rüştü Uçan, stating that children should not be left unsupervised in tents, said, “The escape route outside the tent must always be kept clear and free of obstacles. Disaster tents should be manufactured from fire-resistant materials.”
Fire precautions must be taken in earthquake tents!
Dr. Rüştü Uçan, Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Department at Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences, and Lecturer Abdurrahman İnce, drew attention to the precautions that should be taken in earthquake tents; they made evaluations regarding the measures to be taken against the possibility of fire during earthquakes.
OSH Specialist Dr. Rüştü Uçan emphasized the importance of precautions that should be taken against fire in earthquake tents, pointing out the risk of fire due to the winter season.
Smoking must absolutely not be done inside or near the tent
Dr. Rüştü Uçan, stating that a bucket of water should definitely be kept outside every earthquake tent to extinguish a possible fire, warned, “Cookers and heaters should be used as isolated as possible from flammable materials. Smoking must absolutely not be done inside or at the base of the tent.”
The escape route must always be kept clear!
Dr. Rüştü Uçan, stating that children should not be left unsupervised in tents, said, “The escape route outside the tent must always be kept clear and free of obstacles. Disaster tents should be manufactured from fire-resistant materials. Highly flammable or combustible materials should not be kept inside tents as much as possible.”
Stoves and heating appliances must be securely fixed!
Lecturer Abdurrahman İnce also drew attention to possible fire risks, especially during an earthquake. Emphasizing that the danger of fire during an earthquake should be taken into account and precautions should be taken against this risk, OSH specialist İnce warned, “Stoves and similar heating appliances should be fixed more securely. Systems should be developed for combustion processes used in industrial facilities to automatically stop with earthquake tremors. Considering that fire departments may be insufficient for numerous potential fires that could start in the earthquake region, facilities should be created for the public to extinguish fires themselves.”
Grid electricity must shut off automatically
OSH specialist Abdurrahman İnce emphasized that the system that automatically closes the natural gas valve with an earthquake tremor sensor should be extended to cover all users, and said, “Similarly, grid electricity should be automatically cut off with an earthquake tremor sensor to prevent fires.”