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The fire safety measures at the Secretariat were checked by the Fire Service towards the end of 2019.
After inspecting multiple buildings, several risks were identified, and recommendations were made in 2020.
However, these suggestions were not acted upon, reports bdnews24.com.
Instead, the floors across different buildings were beautified with materials that easily caught fire.
Four years later, a devastating fire raged through the Secretariat’s Building No. 7 on Thursday night.
The 50-year-old building had poor fire safety systems.
Nineteen units of the Fire Service rushed to the scene after receiving a report of fire at 1:52am.
Although the fire was brought under control at 8:05am, it was completely extinguished around 11:45am on Thursday.
The fire, which burnt for about 10 hours, damaged four floors of the building - the 6th, the 7th, the 8th, and the 9th.
The offices of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, Road Transport and Highways Division, Ministry of Finance, Finance Division, Financial Institutions Division, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, Local Government Division, Rural Development and Cooperatives Division, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Posts and Telecommunications Division and the Ministry of Youth and Sports are also located in the nine-storey bloc.
The 8th and 9th floors suffered the most damage, with most of the documents there burnt.
Fire Service officials said fire trucks had difficulty accessing the Secretariat’s entrance, and the lack of sufficient water at the scene had delayed the firefighting efforts.
Building No. 7 at the Secretariat is one of the older structures, constructed in the 1960s.
The building's renovation involved the use of flammable materials such as wood and plywood for decoration.
Former Fire Service deputy director Debashish Bardhan told bdnews24.com on Saturday the Fire Service had reviewed the fire safety systems of the Secretariat’s buildings, considering them to be highly important, and had made several recommendations.
These warnings were sent multiple times through letters to the home ministry.
"However, these recommendations were not implemented. They did not take the issue seriously, and there was complete negligence," he said.
Debashish said he retired at the end of 2023. Even before his departure, he had observed that the Secretariat buildings were "unsafe”.
The former top firefighter added, "The fire-damaged Building No. 7 is very old. The electrical wiring in that building was outdated. Each room had false ceilings for decorative purposes.”
“There was no fire hydrant in that building."
He expressed regret over the death of firefighter Md Shoyanur Zaman Nayan, who was rammed by a truck while trying to extinguish the fire.
"If there had been an adequate water supply there, the young fireman wouldn't have had to run with a water pipe and lose his life. If there had been an underground reserve, if there had been a hydrant, there would have been no need to bring water from outside.
“Why wouldn’t such facilities be available at a place like the Secretariat? They are spending billions, so why can't they provide these things?"
Debashish said the Fire Service had proposed establishing a fully equipped fire station inside the Secretariat, but instead, only a single Fire Service unit was placed there.
He added that the Fire Service had recommended widening the northern entrance of the Secretariat to allow easier access for fire trucks.
"However, they did not act on this recommendation. The building's fire safety measures were limited to just fire extinguishers, and even those were inadequate.
“The required number of extinguishers, placed at the designated distances, were not found.”
During the fire, one of the upper floors of the ten-story building was seen ablaze in an unusual manner.
This incident raised suspicions on social media, with some individuals suggesting it could be part of a “conspiracy”, including two advisors who voiced similar concerns.
When asked for his opinion on the matter, the former official, analysing from his own experience, said: “An investigation committee has been formed, and they will certainly look into it. However, the fact that fires broke out in three or four different locations at the same time raises questions.
“Since this is an old building, a short circuit could be a possible cause. Electrical wires need to be regularly tested, and if the fire was electrical, there would be clear signs.”
He concluded, “If it was sabotage, chemical tests would reveal the truth. Police will surely conduct lab tests on the evidence."