Smoke in the Packaging Store During Production
At 11:30 on a Tuesday, you are the security guard at Maa Kali Garments, a three-storey unit in Titagarh with 60 workers on the stitching floor. You smell burning plastic and see light grey smoke coming from the packaging store on the ground floor. Through the door you see small flames at an electrical socket, about the size of a dinner plate, and cardboard cartons stacked within one metre. The fire alarm is not sounding; a supervisor is on the phone. There are two CO2 extinguishers on the stitching floor and one dry-powder extinguisher near the store. The only usable staircase is 15 metres from the store; the rear staircase is locked for renovation. Workers are still stitching. The assembly point is the car park. You have been trained to use an extinguisher but have no breathing apparatus.
1. State your first five actions, in order, and justify the order.
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Priority order is people first, property second.
- Raise the alarm immediately - shout "fire", operate the manual call point or bell, and tell workers to stop. Do not wait for the supervisor.
- Call 101/112 from a safe place and give the exact address, floor, what is burning (electrical socket and cardboard), and whether anyone is trapped.
- Evacuate the stitching floor by the front staircase; keep the rear staircase area out of use, do not use lifts, and send workers to the car park assembly point.
- Do a roll call with supervisors and report missing persons to the fire brigade; do not re-enter to look for them.
- Only if the fire is still small, you have a clear escape route, a backup, and training, attempt extinguishing from the doorway. If smoke thickens or flames spread beyond the socket area, close the door if safe and withdraw.
The fire is at an electrical socket with cardboard nearby, so it can spread fast; evacuation cannot wait for firefighting.
2. Which extinguisher should you use, and why must water not be used?
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Use CO2 first on an electrical socket fire: it does not conduct electricity and leaves no residue. The dry-powder extinguisher near the store is an alternative if CO2 is not reachable, but powder is messy and can reduce visibility in a small store.
Do not use water. Water conducts electricity and can electrocute the user; on burning cardboard it may also scatter burning material. Use PASS: Pull pin, Aim at the base of the flames, Squeeze the handle, Sweep side to side. Keep your back to the exit, stay low, and withdraw if the fire does not go out quickly. Never turn your back on a fire that is still burning. If the socket is live and the fire is spreading, the correct action is evacuation, not heroics.
3. The supervisor says, "Don't call the fire brigade - we will lose production." How do you respond?
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Refuse the instruction and call the fire brigade. The supervisor is asking you to trade a legal and moral duty for production; a small electrical fire near cardboard can trap 60 workers on a single staircase. Your duty is to protect life, raise the alarm, and summon public emergency services - not to protect the day's output.
Say clearly, "I have already called 101; we can discuss production after everyone is at the assembly point." Inform the plant manager or security officer, and record the supervisor's instruction, your refusal, and the time of the call. If the supervisor tries to stop the evacuation or silence the alarm, treat that as a serious safety breach and report it in writing. Do not argue at length in the smoke; act first, document afterwards.