A hypothetical question of course, but come to think of it, a very important one for each one of us. Firstly, a popular belief seems to be that fire accidents are very rare and hardly happen. But the fact is that the frequency of fire incidents, small or big, is so huge that it would scare anyone if a detailed report were to be placed before him or her. If you google ‘fire accident’ the scroll down list will send shivers up your spine. Add to that the fact that only those reported in media are visible. There are many happening every minute with no media coverage or exposure. As you may see the immunity that you are so comfortable about gets eroded when knowledge of ground realities kicks in. The probability percentage dwindles and exposes that you are far, far more vulnerable than you may imagine. Why do you think the NBC has put such strict norms in place for fire safety? Precisely because the statistics and facts are researched and minutely analysed at the highest level by town planners, political leadership and all civic related bodies who jointly influence the writing we read in the NBC. Yet, if you would like to believe that you are smarter than all of them and that you do not need to abide by the norms mandated, good luck to you. Because even if there is no fire, the fines and punishment for non-compliance still makes it smarter for you to at least abide by the bare minimum and invest a little bit more for a safer environment. If you don’t want to be safer, it’s your choice but surely you would want to be smarter.