[Stoves] Stove safety in India: height requirement

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Dr AD

I was reading http://www.worldburn.org/documents/burns_fires_domestic_appliances.pdf  and found this:

Kerosene stoves were responsible for 27 burns (57%); flames from normal use caused 11 burns, catastrophic explosions caused five burns, and unintentional ignition of fuel outside containers caused 11 burns. The circumstances contributing to the incidents included the following.
· Adding kerosene to a hot stove
· Lack of other illumination in the dwelling
· No pressure gauges on pump stoves
· Inexperience - user kept valve open while pumping
· Stoves placed at ground level, igniting clothing
· No smoke detectors or fire extinguishers
· Average time to extinguish was 6 minutes
· No knowledge of first aid
· No emergency medical system
· Lack of schooling
· Physical or mental disability
· Seizure disorder
· Forgetfulness
· Unawareness of material's flammability

"The typical profile of a hospitalized burn patient in Karachi in 1992-1993 was, ". (a) young, uneducated woman, wearing loose clothing, injured in the kitchen, around a stove, who (was) ignorant of fire safety, experienced prolonged contact with fire, received no first aid, was transported to the hospital in a common carrier, had 57 percent TBSA burned, and died after 2 days."

A surprising % of deaths were from assaults with a burning stove.

As you have mentioned the height of the stove as a consumer demand, it may be that a social intervention rather than a technical one is needed.

Many of the Indian burn victims (at least 200,000 deaths annually from stoves) were set on fire by catching loose clothing alight while the stove was sitting on the floor.  This is obviously dangerous, even if the stove itself is a very safe device.  Dangling loose saris over a low flame is going to cause problems.  Is there no way to promote stove safety by elevating the stove to a safe level, away from children and at what a lot of people would consider a convenient height for sitting beside the stove on a stool?  Why are people so wedded to the low stove?

The additional height of gasifiers may have an impact on burn injury statistics by limiting the ignition of clothing.

Regards
Crispin