Informed sources revealed that the government did not provide some of its facilities and buildings with the Egyptian fire code, which was issued by the Housing and Building Research Center (HBRC) in 1998.

The sources pointed out that the fire that broke out recently at the Shura Council unveiled that the code had not applied. This code sets forth that "the building shall be connected with nearby firefighter stations". However, this was not the case.

The sources also said that the PM discussed the effectuation of this code in his meeting with concerned ministries on Wednesday, but he held no one accountable for not applying it although it was issued ten years ago.

Speaking to al-Masry al-Youm, the sources said that the fire code should be in force in all new buildings once the construction license is issued and should be applied in all old buildings, as well.

"When there is a rise in temperatures or smoke inside the building, the alarm is raised at the nearby firefighter station" they went on to say. "Based on this, firefighters are quickly deployed to put out the fire."

The sources also revealed that some Shura Council officials kept away HBRC experts from the restoration process although they are concerned with applying and overlooking the code.

Former HBRC chairman Abou Zeid Ragueh said there were two possibilities behind the Shura Council fire.

The first is that not all the necessary measures set forth by the Egyptian code had been taken, otherwise the fire would have been countered since it broke out.

As for the second possibility, Dr. Ragueh said that the code may have been applied but that the reaction was slow and, therefore, the fire was not put under control since the beginning.

He also said that in case of rising temperature and billowing smoke inside the building, three alarms are set off, which makes this system an integrated one.

He then affirmed that the Egyptian fire code is excellent and explained that it has been taken from state-of-the-art systems worldwide and that it must be applied to all governmental and historical buildings.