After the November 11 fire at St Bernard’s SS Manya in Kifamba sub-county, Rakai district that left over 10 students dead, Ugandans are once again searching for answers as often happens after such similar tragedies.

There is no doubt that some specifics lead to the tragedies, such as the fire department arriving too late and the perpetrators putting heavy padlocks on the doors. Between April 7, 2008 and March 11, 2009 a survey done by SchoolsUganda, showed police records registering 95 fire incidents in schools all around the country.

The reason behind these problems is, that Ugandans don’t see fire as a real concern, according to David Wakhabeko, the fire safety coordinator and trainer at Fire Masters Ltd, one of the leading companies in Uganda selling, installing and maintaining fire extinguishing services. 

“The problem with Ugandans is that they consider security more than safety. So, we would want to secure properties, but at the end of the day we may lose our lives in the process,” Wakhabeko said referring to the heavy burglar proof doors and windows that make it hard to escape in case of fire.

Most of the school fires between 2008 and 2009 were reportedly deliberately started by arsonists. But even back then, the management on one of the schools showed indifference towards fire risks.

The management of Buddo Junior School, where 20 kids died in the fire in 2008, got indicted on criminal negligence because of classrooms being converted into dorms, creating problems with congestion. Dorms that previously held 30 pupils, were at the time of the fire changed to hold 60 pupils on the same amount of space.

After the Buddo Junior School caught fire, an assessment of school’s preparedness for fires was created. Of the 50 schools in the assessment, 84 per cent of them did not have fire safety plans in place. The conclusion was that the majority of Ugandan schools were not prepared to deal with fires.

Wakhabeko explained this problem and said, “People are now worried about this [Rakai] fire, and they are looking at their schools at the moment. ‘What can they do?’, but a few weeks down the road, they are going to forget, and life will go back to normal until another fire happens. We are more reactive than proactive”.

Because of the failed understanding of fire risks, most people decide to go only for fire extinguishers. But these only fight fires in the incipient phase, when the fire has just started, he said.

Fire Masters even offers free emergency training for schools, where they sometimes only require transportation for the training team, most Ugandan schools decline the offer, whereas international schools easily take up the offer.

“We’ve contacted most of the schools. When you look at international schools, they are easy to deal with, but the perception with Ugandans is far different than with international schools. The international schools know that fire can break out at any time, but our local schools here do not appreciate that fire is a problem,” Wakhabeko said.

Most homes and institutions in Uganda have burglar proof barring the windows, making an escape from a fire more unlikely. That’s why Wakhabeko would recommend institutions too spent more on security outside than inside and cut away with the burglar proofing.

“I would recommend no burglar proof in schools and invest more in external security than in the dormitories. Because fire can break out, for example, if a student decides to set fire. So, you have protected the school, but the fire is from inside the school, so still, you are going to end up with people killed,” he said.

One of the dangers of fire in a dormitory, is when mattresses catch fire. The mattresses made in Uganda are very flammable and can end up emitting toxic smoke.

“When mattresses catch fire, they emit a lot of toxic smoke. Some bi-products in the smoke are carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, which are very dangerous to our health. Carbon monoxide will deprive you of oxygen, leading you to lose consciousness and the result is death,” Wakhabeko added.

In 2005, one of the manufactures of these mattresses, Crest Foam caught fire leaving at least five casualties.

Improving fire safety

When asked how to improve fire safety in schools in Uganda, Wakhabeko is straight forward. He recommends investing in fire prevention, more than in fire-fighting, even though schools often see it as expensive and unnecessary, because they don’t understand the risk of fires.

“I’d recommend prevention. Any institution should invest more in prevention, than fighting the fire. Prevention is far better than fighting the fire. It may take you a long time to extinguish the fire, which will mean loss. Especially invest in the planning stage, such as when constructing the building. Use standard cables, qualified electricians, use certified equipment, everything should be of the highest standard,” he said.

There are several ways investing in prevention can be done, such as buying hose wheels, fire hydrants and sprinklers, in order to fight fire in some of the later stages according to Wakhabeko.

Joseph Mugisha, head of the directorate of police fire prevention and rescue services, mentions other prevention methods, which include a perimeter fence, an important way to keep intruders out, as well as an elaborate human security system with guards at the front and back, CCTVs, that can be a deterrent to arsonists, and a safety committee at the school, that can discuss weaknesses in the schools fire policies and systems.

No law

According to Mugisha separation of rooms can delay spread of fire for about an hour. But, one of the problems in Uganda is, that these kinds of building measures are not enforced. This is because, when building plans need to be approved, there is no enforced law that requires the fire brigade to approve the plans.

“In Uganda, unlike other countries, very few plans go through the fire brigade, and the law is so weak, that it does not enforce this. You will find a building getting build, where there is no fire exit, no provisions for fighting fire, and so forth,” he said.

He said, that the Building Control Act, which would deal with these problems is not fully operational yet but will soon be.