Preventing fires in heritage buildings

Despite the substantial losses of lives and livelihoods in fire mishaps, the fire safety awareness among Malaysians remain slow.

From 2013 to 2018, 733 people perished, 2,341 were injured and properties worth billions of ringgit were damaged or destroyed in flames, according to the latest statistics from the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (Bomba).

But the state of apathy and disengagement among many has not changed much, especially in premises where we spend almost all our time every day as the number of building and premises fire accidents remains at the level above 5,000 during the same period.

One particular category highly exposed to fire risk is heritage buildings, because they are mostly built with combustible materials and suffer from the lack of proper fire systems and emergency escape routes, says Bomba operations division head of operations management section Senior Assistant Fire Commissioner Haron Tahir.

“Most of them are built with wood that have aged for decades, thus making them vulnerable to fire. On top of that, there is a lack of proper firefighting equipment and detection systems such as sprinkler system, fire suppression system and extinguishers. And the emergency escape routes can be inconspicuous due to the complicated layout of the buildings,” he tells EdgeProp.my.

He adds that 27 fire incidents at heritage-status buildings were recorded from 2013 to 2019, of which 15 were offices, followed by shoplots (8), hotels (2) and residential houses (2).

Besides the lack of proper fire safety systems and emergency escape routes, fire caused by faulty wiring works and improper use of appliances is another major cause of heritage building fire, notes Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) heritage and conservation committee chairman Steven Thang.

“The original electrical design might be working fine in the past when the consumption of energy was low as they were just catering for the usage of lights and a few appliances. But today, there are more appliances connected to extension cords. This may trigger a loose connection inside the cord which will burst into flames.

“On top of that, wiring works that have been done by non-competent persons in these buildings is another cause of electrical fires,” he elaborates.

For heritage buildings used as commercial premises such as restaurants, there is a high fire risk too, especially in the kitchen of an old wooden building.

He adds that the low awareness has also added fuel to the fire. “For example, sometimes a canopy supported with columns is built across a street that has a row of heritage shoplots on both sides. So how can the fire engine go through the street when there is a fire in one of the shoplots, and fire spreads very fast in a compact heritage zone,” he highlights.

“Another thing is, do the people in the building and pedestrians on the street know where to run and where the assembly point is?” he asks.

All these have contributed to not just loss of lives and property, but also the destruction of many precious irreplaceable cultural heritage items that are now forever gone, he laments.

“That part of history will be gone. Even if you build new buildings to replace it, the character is no longer there, such as food, dialect and festive culture,” Thang points out.

Balancing conservation and safety

Indeed, upgrading the fire safety equipment and system in a heritage building is not an easy task. The biggest challenge, according to Haron, is the obvious limitations on carrying out modifications to the buildings to prevent harming their heritage status.

He explains that some of the buildings are only allowed minimal works due to the strict regulations, which means, if the refurbishing works are not done carefully, they could lose their heritage status.

“Hence, for those that have been accorded the world heritage status, we need to carefully work within the permitted boundaries in order to protect their heritage status and sometimes, we may need to take a performance-based approach to have alternative means of meeting the fire standards,” Haron adds.

In order to address the issue, stakeholders including Bomba, PAM, Department of National Heritage, The Heritage of Malaysia Trust, Public Works Department, local authorities, non-governmental organisations and universities are working together to come up with guidelines on fire safety for heritage buildings.

The guidelines aim to assist owners on how they can overcome the challenges without conflicting with the rules and regulations through an alternative fire safety design, says Thang.

“These guidelines are not a one-size-fits-all solution that has an answer to every question. We are providing an alternative perspective to the issues that different buildings are having.

“For instance, if you are running a hotel in a two-storey heritage building where there is only a steep staircase connecting the ground floor and upper level, you should limit the number of guests on the upper level as there is only one escape route or, if possible, have an alternative staircase in the building,” he explains.

According to Bomba’s Haron, the guidelines will be implemented by local authorities while serving as a reference for the Principal Submitting Person (PSP), who can be an architect, fire engineer or consultant appointed by heritage building owners to work on a fire safety plan for their buildings, which will be subject to review and approval by Bomba.

For owners who would like to apply for a permit to conduct business in these buildings, they are required to go through the process before obtaining approval from the local authority, he adds.

Owners need to do their part

Meanwhile, heritage building owners and residents are advised to do their part in ensuring the fire safety in their properties.

For those who have a hoarding habit, it is best to avoid piling up combustible items such as old newspapers.It is also important to check your appliances and wiring regularly to prevent electrical fire, Thang adds.

“The respective owners and local authorities should work together to conduct fire drills on a regular basis. This is to ensure people know what to do and where to run in the event of fire while giving the response team an idea of how long it would take for them to reach the location.

“The management must take care of the fire safety aspect of these buildings and must know how to react when a fire occurs,” Haron says.

Investors beware

Meanwhile, prospective buyers or investors are urged to pay more attention to the safety aspect of the buildings they are buying into.

Thang notes that there could be a high cost of modification works to meet the fire safety requirements set by the local authority and the actual space that can be used for operating business could be less than it had appeared from the beginning — all these will have an impact on the returns on investment.

“Hence, it is crucial to know your building and what kind of business you wish to do with it.How are you going to put your money into it without knowing what the potential problems are? That is a gamble. You need to know, at least, what the state is like before you invest,” he concludes.

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This story first appeared in the EdgeProp.my e-Pub on June 12, 2020. You can access back issues here.