NFPA Journal - November/December 2012 - (Page 9)

>> in a flash NEWS FROM NFPA + BEYOND crowds gather in front of the ali enterprises garment factory in Karachi, Pakistan, following a deadly fire in september. Karachi Nightmare A fire in a Pakistani clothing factory kills more than 250 people to become the deadliest industrial and manufacturing fire ever recorded by NFPA. by scott sutherland The number of people killed in the September 12 garment factory fire in karachi, pakistan, varies depending on the source, but the most frequently cited number in recent updates is 258, with hundreds more injured. While the exact figure has been difficult for pakistani authorities to pin down, even ballpark estimates put the event in a class of its own. According to nfpA’s fire Analysis & research division, the karachi fire has become, by a wide margin, the deadliest fire ever recorded in a manufacturing or industrial facility. That benchmark had previously been established by the kader toy factory fire, which killed 188 workers near bangkok, Thailand, in 1993. before kader, the deadliest such incident had been another garment factory fire: the Triangle Waist Co. fire in new York City in 1911, which killed 146 people and led to sweeping the Triangle fire (nfpa.org/trianglefire) reforms in workplace safety in the united highlighted the similarities of many of the States, including the creation of nfpA’s Life deadliest garment factory fires over the last Safety Code. century: few accessible exits, locked doors, no fire protection systems, questionable The karachi fire came on the heels of another deadly fire in a pakistani industrial as many as 1,000 workers were in the Ali hub, this one in the Enterprises factory in Karachi when the fire city of lahore. on began, but reports indicate that only one exit was September 11, at least 23 workers died in a available—the rest had been locked. Most of the shoe factory fire that building’s windows were barred. was believed to have started as a result of a faulty electrical generator. enforcement practices, the grim spectacle of workers jumping from rooftops or upperThe fires in pakistan are the latest story windows to escape the flames. Such examples of the worldwide fire problem fires now tend to occur in developing nathat has plagued the garment manufacturtions from honduras to bangladesh, where ing industry for decades. last year’s NFPA dangerous working conditions are part of Journal story on the 100th anniversary of INTERNATIONAL Photograph: Corbis NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 NFPA JOURNAL 9 http://www.nfpa.org/trianglefire

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - November/December 2012

NFPA Journal - November/December 2012
Contents
First Word
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Research
Heads Up
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Past + Present
Easy Being Green?
Pressure Points
2011 Large-Loss Fires
2011 Firefighter Injuries
Section Spotlight
What’s Hot
Looking Back

NFPA Journal - November/December 2012