The investigation into the fire that claimed 15 young lives in Lucknow will eventually determine where the blaze began. It may have originated in an electrical installation, an air-conditioning duct or some other overlooked corner of the building. Yet the more important question is not how the fire started, but why so many people found themselves unable to escape it. In every major urban fire disaster, attention initially converges on the spark.

Investigators search for a short circuit, faulty wiring or human negligence. Arrests follow, officials are suspended and compensation is announced. What often receives less attention is the chain of institutional failures that transforms a fire into a mass casualty event. Buildings do not become death traps in a single afternoon. They become death traps over months and years through accumulated compromises, ignored warnings and routine violations. The Lucknow tragedy appears to fit that pattern. Reports suggest that a commercial establishment operating in a densely populated area had inadequate evacuation arrangements despite housing scores of young employees and trainees. Once smoke engulfed the main exit route, those inside were left with few........

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