Monday, July 27, 2009

Wokeup Tis morn...

I woke up this morning to the sounds of shouting and screaming from the ladies in the kitchen area and immediately knew that there was another fire incident in the making. As i was already in my towel getting ready for my turn to take the shower I dashed downstairs and as i got near the door saw the kitchen was bright from fire somewhere in the corner of the room. I joined in the desperate attempts that was already in progress to quel the flames that was shooting out of a gas cylinder, another leaky connection case, (happened twice or three times before). Wet cloths were brought to cover the flame in the effort to quelch it but did not help. More and more people from around the neighborhood joined with some shouting, one or two already doing the azan call and others giving lectures and instructions on fire safety. I tood there knowing that there was little i could do at the cap area was by now totally melted, so i held a water hose making sure the tank was kept cool by the the wet cloth and shower of water, I figured on waiting it to burn out the remianing gas.
The Fire Department was called and arrived to take care of the burning tank. All it needed was to send a strong blast of water from the powerful hose to extinguish the flame emitting from the tank. I slipped away quietly and got ready to send my daughter to school and avoid any further communication on the matter at six in the morning. I did not realize how I was affected by the incident till I arrived at the Muzeum USM where i did my morning walk of seven rounds around the Muzeum area while also doing my ZikruAllah holding my wife's image in mind asking my Maker to take care of my critically ill wife. It was also my effort to let go of the incident at home, however after my walk I felt like a ton of bricks hit me on my chest. I thought I was going to have a heart attack and so I made my way to the back of the Building and laid down on the couch. I woke up at noon tired but rested.
I faced the potentility of death from an explosion of the burning gas tank with no fear in my mind of the inevitable but my body was taking th toll in the form of shock. This had happened before I noticed when I was the health and Safety Officer for a CUF Project in Jerteh's Petronas Refinery. A simmilar incident occured only at that time it was a gnerator that was on fire and I was the firston sight and after much effrot managed to put it out. I notced that only one or two person assisted me in the process and that most of the workers and supervisors were watching from a safe distance. I felt no fear of lossing my life then too but I passed out when I got back to the office untill someone had to wake me up for sleeping on the job.
In the incident this morning I noticed how panicked onlookers can cause more harm to themselves than help. Shouting and screaming can add to the confussion and thus causing poor judgement in quick action taking a small incident can turn into a major disaster. The lack of fire fighting equipment at a place where alot of cooking is being carried out daily is unacceptable especially when the proprietor was told to look into the matter twice on two seperate incidents by your truly...but...

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