Many underprivileged communities have to resort to different forms of energy and living, used for cooking and warmth. Due to so many power outages and lack of services, many people have started to use generators, gas and petroleum lamps more frequently. Since so many people are unemployed or earn an extremely low salary, they can’t afford proper housing and safe appliances and energy sources, and end up making “houses” out of plastic, cardboard and scrap metal and using hazardous energy sources. These houses are small and lack electricity or appliances. This means that people have to make their own methods of cooking and staying warm. Although many ideas have been considered, there doesn’t seem to be a realistic plan as of yet to get electricity, or another form of safer energy into informal settlements. People use their own methods to keep warm and cook, but one more commonly used is indoor fires. These fires take long to make and are very unsafe. When safety issues and bad behaviour or lack of knowledge are combined, many fires may start to burn out of control and cause major damage. Shack fires have always been a major problem in South Africa, and other countries, in informal settlements. Every year thousands of shacks are burnt down and people lose their homes, possessions and lives. Fires spread quickly and can engulf large areas in minutes. In some fires, up to 4000 people lost their homes and possessions. While extra precautions are being taken, and new safety is being developed, the rate at which this is happening is too slow and people are blaming the government for the fires because of their inefficiency. Other people blame the lack of services on the fires themselves, which destroy infrastructure and services in the inf... ... middle of paper ... ...nce if a faulty design is used and the effects it would have on their body. By seeing what can happen to you, I realised how important it is that an effective design is installed so that the ventilation is ideal and no carbon monoxide remains in the shack and collects. This is the main aim of my project – to design a roof that has sufficient ventilation and will allow for the carbon monoxide to escape without harming people inside the house. The fourth reference, Sustainable Solutions needed to prevent Shack Fire, speaks about more current methods used by the government and such to try and prevent shack fires occurring so often. It is hard to find a sustainable way to make it work, and this made me realise just how big of a problem these shack fires are, and how my project won’t be easy, but it is possible, it is just a matter of careful thought, design and testing.
Thousands upon thousands of acres are lost in forest fires every year. We always hear about the dramatic losses caused by forest fires and are often concerned by them. There are so many horrible effects from fires and most of them affect so many people. Studies have shown that out of all of the different methods to decrease fire damage, prescribed burns are the most affective. Many people would argue that they are not as affective because they cause so many health problems. Although that is a very important view and may seem valid, those health issues are not as extreme as one might think. People should look at the majority of the benefits form prescribed burns and they will see how affective and important they are. Prevention is the key to society these days and is definitely an important factor in saving lives. If more lives can be saved as well as land and wildlife, prescribed burns may be the better way to go about forest fires. Although, prescribed burns are better for the environment in order to prevent drastic forest fires, severe damage to timber and extreme death of wildlife; some people feel it affects the health of a firefighter too much and it causes too many long term effects.
Brannigan, Francis L, and Glenn P. Corbett. Brannigan's Building Construction for the Fire Service. Sudbury, MA: National Fire Protection Association, 2007. Print.
“On one side we see men of some years disheartened and retired from productive exertion. On the other hand, we see places open for younger men” (“Political Economy of the Fire”). After the devastating fire, one hundred thousand people were left without a home.
"News From the FMO." Why We Do Tent Inspections. City of Manassas Fire and Rescue Department, 2012. Web. 6 June 2014.
Wildfires started as an annual and seasonal occurrence in the south western region of California since the early 1930’s in part because of the hot dry summers and the hot dry turbulent Santa Ana winds that blow in from the desert during the fall months. Now it has become a yearlong event (Mckay, 2010). These conditions greatly contribute to the “fire season” throughout this area. This set of circumstances in conjunction with downed power lines and humans that ignited fires took place in October of 2007. This led to a series of fires that burned more than 500,000 acres, destroyed 1,500 homes, killed 9, injured 85, and forced the successful evacuation of around 500,000 people out of harm’s way.
# National Wildlife Coordinating Group Training Working Team. Wildland Fire Suppression Tactics Reference Guide. National Wildlife Coordinating Group, Boise, ID, 1996.
The most pressing issue facing Detroit, in regard to fire, is the steady amount of burning vacant or delipidated buildings, and second to that is the high rate of home fires. For the purposes of this project, the capabilities of
Fire safety education is a crucial aspect of fire prevention. The general public needs to know how big of a threat fire is to them and how they can do things in their everyday lives to improve their safety, as well as preventing the threat of fire to begin with. The commission also realized that it was critically important that people know how to properly act once a fire has started. It is important that people have the knowledge to act quickly, safely, and effectively. When people don’t understand fire they can react in many negative ways such as panicking, not evacuating effectively, or by trying to fight a fire that they are not going to be able to extinguish. All these human reactions can decrease safety and end with tragic results. In the commission’s report they approximate that nearly 70 percent of all building fires were due to people acting carelessly because they did not understand the fire dangers that were present. The commission cited studies like one conducted in southeast Missouri. In the southeast Missouri community, a huge emphasis was put into public fire safety education because the fire death rate of the community was much higher than the national average. After increasing fire safety education in the community it was no surprise that the rate of deaths and injuries decreased
Although fire is linked to human life, as it is essential for survival, not only its use for food, security and warmth, particularly in the extreme cold weather
Human beings cause most wildfires, directly or indirectly. In the United States lightning, the only truly natural cause is responsible for less than 10% of all such fires. In the West, lightning is the primary cause, with smoking (cigarettes, matches, and such) the second most frequent. Combined they account for 50 to 75% of all wildfires. In the “13 southern states (Virginia to Texas) the primary cause is arson; this combined with smoking and debris burning makes up 75% of all wildfires” (Perry, 1994). The other causes of wildfires are machine use and campfires. Machine use includes railroads, logging, sawmills, and other operations using equip...
There are 180,00 families in America living a sustainable lifestyle and roughly around 1.7 billion people worldwide living without depending on the grid. (Palameri 1; Perez qtd. in Wood 1). The number of Eco villages, sustainable and intentional communities are rising across the nation as more people are discovering that they possess a strong inclination to live in the same manner as the Amish. This phenomenon is becoming a progressively popular choice for people from all walks of life. Not only are environmentalists and survivalists escaping the city life in efforts to live off the grid, but single families and people who are seeking to explore a simplified lifestyle are also joining the trend.
...r it is arson, an uncontrolled camp fire, or a cigarette butt it doesn’t take much for humans to spark a disaster. Yet there is as well a few set by good old Mother Nature. On top of the effects on the earth as well as humans, there is only one thing we all can do and that is listen to our old pal Smokey the Bear when he says, “only you can prevent wildfire.”
Now days, the world is intended to be in a worst scenario ever imagined. Climates, global warming and furthermore problems. However, I have noticed new changes, universally speaking, yet renewable energy has also been popularized to our world and I addition, it became part of Sustainable Architecture. “Sustainable Architecture describes the fact that we can only exist and create with the availability of natural resources. Those resources are the foundation of our world. Sustainable architecture proclaims this fact to the world… And that is probably the most appropriate understanding of the term.”(Brooks, 92) That’s why these resources exist within our environment but only few of the people anticipated a good use for them just t increase likelihood the worlds energy efficiency and also the natural environment. Speculating Asia’s growth both in wealth and population, it has been a great risk for them consequently they had been temporizing endeavoring new ways of preventing massive energy consumptions and wastes from resources. “How can we protect our natural resource base while sustaining our socio economic gains? My answer in two words: systems and self.”(Ms. Galang, 1)
Adults more than likely most frequently set fires for monetary gain – such as insurance fraud but other reasons also abound (Bartol & Bartol). Revenge, vandalism, crime concealment or diversion, intimidation, terrorism, and sabotage are all reasons why fires are set. Many of th...
Creating the awareness among the students helps them on the various ways to avoid fires. If possible students are advised to ensure that all the fire alarms and extinguishers are in working conditions at all times. They should also be careful and alert when using any appliance that is likely to cause a fire and avoid using anything that is prohibited in the rooms.