ISSN 2348-0319 International Journal of Innovative and Applied Research [2023]

13-18
(Volume 11, Issue 06)

Journal home page: http://www.journalijiar.com

REVIEW ARTICLE

Article DOI: 10.58538/IJIAR/2028

DOI URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.58538/IJIAR/2028

CAUSES AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES OF FIRE OUTBREAK IN AFRICA: REVIEW

Eze Val Hyginus Udoka1,2, Enerst Edozie1 and Ugwu Chinyere Nneoma2
1. Department of Electrical, Telecommunication and Computer Engineering, Kampala International University,
Uganda.
2. Department of Publication and Extension, Kampala International University, Uganda.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Manuscript Info Abstract
………………………. ....………………………………………………………………
Manuscript History
Received: 03 May 2023
Fire is a visible effect of the process of combustion as a special type
Final Accepted: 09 June 2023
Published: June 2023
of chemical reaction which occurs when oxygen in the atmosphere reacts
with some sort of fuel to bring out flame.This review research extensively
………………............. detailed the causes, preventive and protective measure to be taken to curb
Keywords:
Fire Outbreak, Gas Leakage, Flame, fire outbreak in the society. This showed that the best way to avoid fire
Safety, Causes of Fire, Fire prevention outbreak is by adopting preventive and protective measure which includes
avoidance of using phone in the kitchen,fueling generator when it is ON,
smoking in flammable prone zone, gas leakage and so on. This paper will
guide home users and fire preventive software designers to be aware of the
things to be incurred or put in consideration when managing/designing/
implementing a device that can prevent or control fire outbreak. This
research review will be of important to the world as it serves as a guide on
fire outbreak causes and simple ways to prevent it both manually and
automatically.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………
*Corresponding Author:- Eze Val Hyginus Udoka, Department of Electrical, Telecommunication and Computer
Engineering, Kampala International University, Uganda.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Introduction:-
Safety is one of the crucial aspects of life and it should be taken care of first before any other activities. One of the
disastrous outbreak that many have experienced in life is fire outbreak and its control is always difficult. fire is the
state of combustion in which inflammable material burns, producing heat, flames, and often smoke. Fire outbreak is
a sudden and unplanned increase of fire in an enclosed or open arena. Fire outbreak is also described assudden
unplanned eruption or an outburst of flame, light and heat which is produced when something burns. This fire
outbreak can be caused by many factors such faulty home appliances, bad house wiring, careless use of gas cooker
and container, careless use of candle, explosion of gas cylinder or tanker, use of cell phones at filling or gas station,
smoking and so on.

However, such fire outbreak sometimes escalates to highest level simply because safe measures weren’t put in place
or there is less or no monitoring at all. Hence, several projects have been built in the past to ensure that the issue of
abrupt fire outbreaks in schools and other places were eradicated or curbed to the barest minimum.

13
ISSN 2348-0319 International Journal of Innovative and Applied Research [2023]
13-18
(Volume 11, Issue 06)

Many researchers have placed some curbing measures to ensure that such incident were reduced to ensure lives and
properties weren’t lost in this process. In 1999, R.A Carter presented a fire safety and security system in schools
which had the security and smoke detection alarm system combined with an automatic sprinkler system [1]. In 2005
some group of researcher researched about School Safety Interventions: Best Practices and Programs where they
involved school social workers because of their influence to stop school violence [2].In 2006, researchers also
proposed an efficient monitoring system for early fire automatic detection using the Arduino mega and other main
components used to design a fire alarm. The system had the ability to remotely send an alert to the authorities by
using a GSM module whenever a fire is detected [3]. The quest to eradicate fire outbreak by researchers kept on
evolving and in 2010 they came up with a fire fighting robot that had to control fire through a robotic vehicle.
Moreover, With the advancement in the field of Robotics, human intervention is becoming less every day and robots
are used widely for purpose of safety [4].A WiFi Based Home Automation System that supports a wide range of
home automation devices like power management components, and security components like fire detectors were
designed to still curb fire outbreak in our various home and offices [5].In 2013, the development of Fire Alarm
System using Raspberry Pi and Arduino Uno that could detect the presence of smoke in the air due to fire and
captures images via a camera installed inside a room when a fire occurs [6].

A Local Data Fusion Algorithm for Fire Detection through Mobile Robot was developed where a local data fusion
algorithm based on luminosity, temperature and flame for fire detection was presented. The data fusion approach
was embedded in a low-cost mobile robot [7].

An Intelligent Fire Detection and Mitigation System Safe from Fire (SFF) was developed and implemented. The
developed system has the ability of taking in input signals from various sensors placed in different position of the
monitored area and fuzzy logic was integrated on it to identify fire breakout locations and severity [8].

A controlled Robot for Fire Detection and Extinguish to Closed Areas Based on Arduino was design and
implemented for effective fire outbreak control. The basic idea of fire detection and treatment robot was based on
detection of the fire by the wireless camera and flame sensor and control the fire outbreak by sending a
programmable command to the mobile phone through Bluetooth connection to turn ON water pump to extinguish
the fire [9].

An IOT fire detection system using temperature sensor (flame sensor) and Arduino device was developed to detect
fire outbreak and measure the amount of heat intensity as well as the specific location of the house, offices was
designed in 2019 by [10]. This developed device help to detect and measure the specific location at where the fire
outbreak happened and proffer solution to it immediately by signaling the specific and designed authority on the
happenings.

An early fire detection system based on fuzzy logic using multisensory was developed and implemented by [11] in
2020. The system consisted of a multisensory to detect fire, smoke and temperature in the room. The multisensory
used in the design were: KY-026 sensor as fire detection sensor, MQ-9 sensor as smoke detection sensor and
DS18b20 sensor as temperature detector sensor were combined together for effective and efficient fire outbreak
detection [11].

A fire detection model based on power-aware scheduling for IoT-sensors in smart cities with partial coverage was
developed [12]. In the proposed model, the sleep scheduling approach used for saving sensors energy. The approach
was anticipated to significantly help in saving consumed energy and retrieve the excess to avoid wastage and use it
to fight fire outbreak [12].

In Uganda, a number of school dormitories have been prone to fire outbreak that has taken many lives which would
have been curtailed if all the necessary fire outbreak proactive measures were taken. The fire outbreak incident of
April 2008 in a girls’ dormitory at Buddo Junior School took lives of 20 pupils which would have been secured.
Another bad scenario of fire outbreak in Uganda that killed not less than 30 people happened at Bishop Ruhindi
High School in Rukungiri District, Bukoyo Secondary School in Iganga District, St Mary’s College in Buikwe
District, Kawempe Muslim SS, Merryland High School, Kibibi Junior School, Light College Katikamu, Moyo SS
and St Leo’s Junior School and finally at St John Bosco Primary School, Katende were a live was lost. Furthermore,
In November 12, 2018, a school in Rakai district caught fire and killed 10 SS3 students and left 50 students critically
injured [13].

14
ISSN 2348-0319 International Journal of Innovative and Applied Research [2023]
13-18
(Volume 11, Issue 06)

It is also very important to note that there is a need to install solar photovoltaic panels in the monitoring environment
in case of power failure. There many review work done in the field of photovoltaic installation, fabrications and
optimizations that will help in installation of solar photovoltaics in the designated zone of monitoring to avoid fire
outbreak [14-18]. There is also study in the development and fabrications of photovoltaic panels that will help the
research to know how to develop, optimize, fabricate and install a sizable solar panel in the monitoring environment
with less cost [16] [19-25]

There are other designs and implementations of microcontroller and Arduino based research works that explicitly
highlighted on the Arduino connections with ATmega322P microcontroller for smart surveillance security system,
automated hybrid smart door control system, an improved automatic DC motor speed control systems using
microcontroller, An industrial heat detector and cooling system using raspberry Pi [18][19] [26-28].

Theoretical Review of fire outbreak

Fire:Fire is the visible effect of the process of combustionas special type of chemical reaction. It occurs
between oxygen in the air and some sort of fuel when they react to bring out flame. The products from the
chemical reaction are completely different from the starting material.The fuel must be heated to its ignition
temperature for combustion to occur. The reaction will keep going as long as there is enough heat, fuel
and oxygen. The diagram in figure 1 is the components that made up fire.

Figure1:- Components of Fire.

Combustion is a chemical process in which a substance reacts rapidly with oxygen and gives off heat. The original
substance is called the fuel, and the source of oxygen is called the oxidizer.

Impacts of fire.
Fire has both positive and negative impact in the society depending on the degree at which it burns. The negative
effects are always disastrous and hazardous, in some cases it results to deaths, widespread damage of properties.
Positively fire is used for cooking foods and to do other essential things like welding, metallurgical process for the
production of steals and so on.

The risk of wildfires increases is extreme during dry season where there is drought, harmattan with a very heavy
wind. Wildfires can disrupt transportation, communications, power and gas services, and water supply. They also
lead to a deterioration of the air quality, and loss of property, crops, resources, animals some essential economic
trees.

Wildfires and volcanic activities as shown in figure 2, has affected about 6.2 million people between 1998-2017
with 2400 attributable deaths worldwide from suffocation, injuries, and burns, but the size and frequency of
wildfires are growing due to climate change. Hotter and drier conditions are drying out ecosystems and increasing
the risk of wildfires. Wildfires also simultaneously impact weather and the climate by releasing large quantities of
carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter into the atmosphere. The contaminated air pollution
caused by the wildfire can cause a range of health issues, including respiratory and cardiovascular problems.

15
ISSN 2348-0319 International Journal of Innovative and Applied Research [2023]
13-18
(Volume 11, Issue 06)

Figure 2:- Wildfire Burning.

Causes of fire outbreak

House fires has continuously been a leading cause of death and property loss across the country. Data from the
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) statistically showed that about 490,500 residential homein the United
States in 2020 were affected by fire outbreak. However, the most common causes of house fires in the society are
outlines as follow:
1. Electrical Appliances and Equipment:Any device that generates heat (stoves, clothes dryers, heaters) or
overheated up when used extensively (computers, fans) is a potential fire hazard. Cooking vessels that are left
unattended to are avoidably one of the causesof fires outbreak.
2. Candles: this can cause fire outbreak in a house whenever it is left carelessly unattended to in an enclosure that
has materials that can easily catch fire example wooden table, chairs, foams.
3. Smoking:Among the most common causes of house fires is the consequence of negligent smoking habits. People
sometimes fall asleep while smoking. In doing so, they can set their bed, chair or couch on fire, which can easily
result in a fatality. Another avoidable hazard is discarding still-hot ashes into a trash can where they can ignite.
4. Chemicals and Gasses:Home fires can easily be caused by sources of natural gas or propane gas. An errant spark
combined with a small leak can create a combustible situation. Improperly mixed household chemicals can also
trigger combustion and that’s why it is more advisable to perform such activities outside the room.
5. Lightning:Lightning fires most commonly occur during raining season where the thunders blow. It mainly affects
houses that don’t have thunder protection. Lighting can cause fire outbreak more especially when electrical gargets
were plugged in the connected electrical socket. Homes in heavily wooded areas are extremely vulnerable to
lightning strikes because they can easily set the surrounding landscape on fire.
6.Gas leakage:This can easily cause fire outbreak. When the gas leakages are highly concentrated within the room
any metallic object that comes in contact within that gas filled area catches fire.
Preventions of fire outbreak
1. Turn off your appliances while not in use:Since the nation’s power supply cannot be trusted and predicted, it is
very important that you turn off your appliances no matter how small they might be before heading out. Even while
at home, appliances that are not in use should be disconnected. Just a little spark when there is a voltage surge can
cause a great fire outbreak. Also, being sensitive and conscious while using some appliances is very important [29]
2. Avoid using your phone in the kitchen: Several warnings have been made to ensure that people stop receiving
calls in the kitchen. This is because using your phone with some kitchen appliances can be very dangerous. The
radiation that comes from a cell phone can be so dangerous at times, especially when you have gas in your kitchen.
Apart from this, you might get distracted and not attend to your food being cooked on the cooker or gas as soon as
you should.
3. Avoid fueling your generator while it is ON: A lot of Nigerians take this risk every day. Some get so lucky to
get away with this and some don’t. Try as much as possible to put off your generator and allow it to cool down
before refueling it.
4. Be careful while lighting your gas cooker: Gas explosions have been one of the major causes of fire outbreaks.
A lot of Nigerians put on their gas cookers in the wrong way, forgetting that gases move faster when released. While
putting on your gas cooker, be careful to keep flammable materials or chemicals far away from you.

16
ISSN 2348-0319 International Journal of Innovative and Applied Research [2023]
13-18
(Volume 11, Issue 06)

5. Use rechargeable lamps instead of candles: The advent of rechargeable lamps has made life easier and has
reduced the rate of fire outbreaks. Using candles on tables and flammable objects can be so dangerous and risky. It
may fall off while no one is around, burn the objects around it and cause a great fire.
6. Avoid smoking in sensitive areas: This cannot be overemphasized. A lot of organizations put up indications like
“smoking is prohibited here.” This is to ensure safety and prevent fires from exploding. Smokers shouldn’t be
allowed in a highly flammable environment.
7. Ensure proper wiring connections: Naked wires and improper connections should be attended to as soon as
possible. Improper wiring connections can cause a spark. You can properly cover the naked wires with tape
when there is no power supply while you wait for an electrical technician.
8. Avoid trying to fix electrical faults yourself: Try as much as possible not to fix electric faults yourself without
the skills. You might be violating some electrical laws, which could lead to a spark.
9. Avoid overloading electrical sockets: Excess loads on electrical sockets can be so dangerous and can easily
cause fire outbreak
10. Ensure your gas cylinder and cooker are properly fixed: Gas is highly flammable and travels fast. Try as
much as possible to pay attention to your gas cylinders from time to time. Even just a little hole in the pipes
that connect your gas and your cookers together can cause a fire hazard. It is advisable to attend to flames
while cooking to prevent fire accidents.
11. Avoid shaking your gas cylinders:Shaking your gas cylinders to check the amount of gas remaining is very
dangerous. It would only enhance explosion and fire hazards.

Conclusion:-
This review showed that fire outbreak cannot completely be eradicated in the society but can be manually and
automatically reduced to its barest minimum by using some of the tips and preventive methods reviewed in this
paper. This research paper reviewed the possible causes of fire outbreak in the society and its preventive solutions.
From this paper it was observed that adoption of the preventive methods/tips will help in reducing fire outbreaks and
keep properties and lives of individuals in the society safe.

Reference:-
1. Carter, Rachel Anne. "Fire Safety and Security in Schools." (1999).
2. Astor, Ron Avi, Heather Ann Meyer, Rami Benbenishty, Roxana Marachi, Michelle %J Children Rosemond,
and Schools. "School Safety Interventions: Best Practices and Programs." 27, no. 1 (2005): 17-32.
3. Alhawari, Adam RH, AHM Almawgani, Nasser Aboud Alsaleh, Saeed Ali Alyami, and Abdullah Mahdi
Aslloum. "An Efficient Monitoring System for Early Fire Automatic Detection." (2006).
4. DEVI, K SHAMILI, K AKHILESWAR, CH VINAYAKA, M KARTHIK, and YK VISWANADHAM. "Fire
Fighting Robot." (2010).
5. ElShafee, Ahmed, Karim Alaa %J World academy of science Hamed, engineering, and technology. "Design
and Implementation of a Wifi Based Home Automation System." 68, no. 2012 (2012): 2177-83.
6. Bahrudin, Md Saifudaullah Bin, Rosni Abu Kassim, and Norlida Buniyamin. "Development of Fire Alarm
System Using Raspberry Pi and Arduino Uno." Paper presented at the 2013 International Conference on
Electrical, Electronics and System Engineering (ICEESE), 2013.
7. Roberto, Guilherme Freire, Kalinka Castelo Branco, José Marcio Machado, and Alex R Pinto. "Local Data
Fusion Algorithm for Fire Detection through Mobile Robot." Paper presented at the 2013 14th Latin American
Test Workshop-LATW, 2013.
8. Mobin, Md Iftekharul, Md Abid-Ar-Rafi, Md Neamul Islam, and Md Rifat %J International Journal of
Computer Applications Hasan. "An Intelligent Fire Detection and Mitigation System Safe from Fire (Sff)." 133,
no. 6 (2016): 1-7.
9. Sharma, Abhinav Kumar, Md Faiz Raza Ansari, Md Firoz Siddiqui, and Mirza Ataullah %J Int. J. Curr. Trends
Eng. Res. Baig. "Iot Enabled Forest Fire Detection and Online Monitoring System." 3 (2017): 50-54.
10. Khalaf, Osamah Ibrahim, Ghaida Muttashar Abdulsahib, and Noor Abdul Khaleq %J AUS Zghair. "Iot Fire
Detection System Using Sensor with Arduino." 26 (2019): 74-78.
11. Rachman, FZ, N Yanti, H Hadiyanto, S Suhaedi, Q Hidayati, MEP Widagda, and BA Saputra. "Design of the
Early Fire Detection Based Fuzzy Logic Using Multisensor." Paper presented at the IOP Conference Series:
Materials Science and Engineering, 2020.

17
ISSN 2348-0319 International Journal of Innovative and Applied Research [2023]
13-18
(Volume 11, Issue 06)

12. El-Hosseini, Mostafa, Hanaa ZainEldin, Hesham Arafat, Mahmoud %J Journal of Ambient Intelligence
Badawy, and Humanized Computing. "A Fire Detection Model Based on Power-Aware Scheduling for Iot-
Sensors in Smart Cities with Partial Coverage." 12, no. 2 (2021): 2629-48.
13. https://nilepost.co.ug/2018/11/12/how-students-expelled-from-rakai-school-revenged-by-burning-colleagues-in-
dormitory/
14. M. C. Eze, V. H. U. Eze, N. O. Chidebelu, S. A. Ugwu, J. I. Odo, and J. I. Odi, “Novel Passive Negative And
Positive Clamper Circuits Design For Electronic Systems,” International Journal of Scientific & Engineering
Research, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 856–867, 2017.
15. V. H. U. Eze, M. C. Eze, C. C. Ogbonna, S. A. Ugwu, K. Emeka, and C. A. Onyeke, “Comprehensive Review
of Recent Electric Vehicle Charging Stations,” Global Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, vol. 1,
no. 12, pp. 16–23, 2021.
16. V. H. U. Eze, S. C. Olisa, M. C. Eze, B. O. Ibokette, and S. A. Ugwu, “Effect Of Input Current And The
Receiver-Transmitter Distance On The Voltage Detected By Infrared Receiver,” International Journal of
Scientific & Engineering Research, vol. 7, no. 10, pp. 642–645, 2016.
17. V. H. U. Eze, U. O. Oparaku, A. S. Ugwu, and C. C. Ogbonna, “A Comprehensive Review on Recent
Maximum Power Point Tracking of a Solar Photovoltaic Systems using Intelligent , Non-Intelligent and Hybrid
based Techniques,” International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology, vol. 6, no. 5, pp.
456–474, 2021.
18. W. O. Okafor, S. O. Edeagu, V. C. Chijindu, O. N. Iloanusi, and V. H. U. Eze, “A Comprehensive Review on
Smart Grid Ecosystem,” IDOSR Journal of Applied Science, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 25–63, 2023.
19. E. Enerst, V. H. U. Eze, I. Musiimenta, and J. Wantimba, “Design and Implementation of a Smart Surveillance
Secuirty System,” IDOSR Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 98–106, 2023, doi:
10.5120/cae2020652855.
20. V. H. U. Eze, M. C. Eze, V. Chijindu, E. Chidinma E, U. A. Samuel, and O. C. Chibuzo, “Development of
Improved Maximum Power Point Tracking Algorithm Based on Balancing Particle Swarm Optimization for
Renewable Energy Generation,” IDOSR Journal of Applied Sciences, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 12–28, 2022.
21. M. C. Eze et al., “Improving the efficiency and stability of in-air fabricated perovskite solar cells using the
mixed antisolvent of methyl acetate and chloroform,” Organic Electronics, vol. 107, pp. 1–10, Aug. 2022, doi:
10.1016/j.orgel.2022.106552.
22. M. C. Eze et al., “Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells Optimum silver contact sputtering parameters for
efficient perovskite solar cell fabrication,” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, vol. 230, no. 2020, p.
111185, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111185.
23. V. H. U. Eze, O. N. Iloanusi, M. C. Eze, and C. C. Osuagwu, “Maximum power point tracking technique based
on optimized adaptive differential conductance,” Cogent Engineering, vol. 4, no. 1, 2017, doi:
10.1080/23311916.2017.1339336.
24. V. H. U. Eze, M. O. Onyia, J. I. Odo, and S. A. Ugwu, “DEVELOPMENT OF ADUINO BASED SOFTWARE
FOR WATER PUMPING IRRIGATION SYSTEM,” International Journal of Scientific & Engineering
Research, vol. 8, no. 8, pp. 1384–1399, 2017.
25. V. H. U. Eze, “Development of Stable and Optimized Bandgap Perovskite Materials for Photovoltaic
Applications,” IDOSR Journal of Computer and Applied Science, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 44–51, 2023.
26. E. Enerst, V. H. U. Eze, M. J. Ibrahim, and I. Bwire, “Automated Hybrid Smart Door Control System,” IAA
Journal of Scientific Research, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 36–48, 2023.
27. E. Enerst, V. H. U. Eze, and J. Wantimba, “Design and Implementation of an Improved Automatic DC Motor
Speed Control Systems Using Microcontroller,” IDOSR Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 9, no. 1, pp.
107–119, 2023.
28. V. H. U. Eze, E. Enerst, F. Turyahabwe, U. Kalyankolo, and J. Wantimba, “Design and Implementation of an
Industrial Heat Detector and Cooling System Using Raspberry Pi,” IDOSR Journal of Scientific Research, vol.
8, no. 2, pp. 105–115, 20233
29. 0bc5f34034a2eba2fe8a083bb60d14210e96d77f @ tribuneonlineng.com. (n.d.).
https://tribuneonlineng.com/tips-on-how-to-prevent-a-fire-outbreak/

18