Make fire prevention a habit

Dismantle the "tiger cage", open the "escape door"

On the morning of July 9, the early morning sunlight filtered through the rusted iron mesh windows at Doc Lap residential area ( Phu Tho Hoa ward, Ho Chi Minh City). The sound of metal cutting echoed through the corridors that were once crowded with construction projects. No one said it out loud, but everyone understood that those iron frames were once “safety cages” for many families, but now they became “death cages” in a fire.

Fire and Rescue Police force propagates fire safety to residents of an apartment building in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: CAM TUYET

The apartment of Mrs. Huynh Thi Kim Xuyen's family is only a few steps away from the two apartments that were completely burned down in the fire on the night of 6-7. Her family watched intently every spark from the cutting machine, their eyes unable to hide the heaviness. Next to her, Mrs. Tran Thi Kim Trong stood absent-mindedly on the porch, her eyes fixed on the apartment where Mrs. Xuyen was dismantling the "tiger cage".

“In the past, many residents here built “tiger cages” to prevent theft, but now they can’t keep them anymore. Human life is the most important thing,” said Ms. Trong. Although she was not a household directly affected, the images of stretchers and the cries that night still haunt the sleep of this elderly woman.

Doc Lap Residence was built many years ago, following the old residential model with common corridors and many emergency exits. However, over time, those passages were narrowed by spontaneous constructions (“tiger cages”, even warehouses, car parks, kitchens...) for “a little convenience”, “a little peace of mind”.

Faced with the worrying situation, in recent days, all 33 regional teams of the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Department (PCCC-CNCH), Ho Chi Minh City Police Department simultaneously launched operations, coordinating with the authorities of 168 wards, communes and special zones to carry out propaganda work, mobilizing people to dismantle "tiger cages" in old apartment buildings and residential areas, and open a second escape route.

Strictly handle violations in unsafe apartment buildings

Recently, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has issued a document directing departments, branches and local authorities to strengthen inspection and rectify the management and operation of apartment buildings, especially ensuring fire safety and rescue. The People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City assigned the People's Committees of communes, wards and special zones to coordinate with the Fire Police force to inspect and strictly handle violations in unsafe apartment buildings; organize propaganda and mobilize residents and apartment building management boards to dismantle illegal constructions, encroach on emergency exits, destroy urban beauty and cause fire safety problems. The units shall report the results to the Department of Construction before August 10.

Since the beginning of the year, Ho Chi Minh City has coordinated with the police force and local authorities to organize 270 training courses, with about 79,571 participants. In addition, Ho Chi Minh City Police have organized 1,488 inspections, made 1,408 records and administratively sanctioned violations of fire prevention and fighting with a total fine of more than 500 million VND.

In Binh Quoi ward, 9 working groups were established, going directly to each household to propagate, instruct escape skills and introduce fire safety models.

Directly participating in the mobilization work, Mr. Mai Quang, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Quoi Ward, together with the Fire Prevention and Rescue Force, went to each house to explain the danger level of "tiger cages". He also informed that in the area there are 23 apartment buildings, of which about 1,000 households have installed "tiger cages". "We are trying to mobilize 100% of households with installed "tiger cages" to dismantle them, to ensure safety for themselves and their families", said Mr. Mai Quang.

After being mobilized, many households, including Ms. Le Thuy Linh’s family, living in Thanh Da apartment building agreed to dismantle the “tiger cage”. More than 10 years ago, Ms. Linh hired workers to build iron fences on the balcony to prevent theft. “Recently, there have been many fires, especially the fire at Doc Lap apartment building, which made everyone scared, so my family immediately dismantled it,” Ms. Linh said.

At apartment building 518 Vo Van Kiet (Cau Ong Lanh ward), the Fire Fighting and Rescue Team of Area 1 also went to each house to propagate and mobilize people to dismantle "tiger cages" to ensure fire safety. This apartment building was built nearly 30 years ago. Of the more than 100 households living here, most of the apartments have "tiger cages" installed. Mr. Cao Son Ha, a resident of the apartment building, said: "Through propaganda activities, people have become more aware of the risks caused by fire and explosion and the harm caused by not having a suitable escape route."

Safety starts with every small action

Balconies covered with iron cages, hallway corners turned into “temporary storage”, electric wires tangled like spider webs… are familiar images in hundreds of old apartment buildings across Ho Chi Minh City.

Donating fire extinguishers and fire protection equipment to residents of apartment building 518 Vo Van Kiet, Cau Ong Lanh ward, HCMC. Photo: CAM TUYET

According to statistics, Ho Chi Minh City currently has 1,132 apartment buildings, of which 239 were built before 1975 and 341 were built before 1975. Ho Chi Minh City also has hundreds of other buildings built between 1975 and 2001. Many of these are potentially unsafe due to fire and explosion.

According to Major General Nguyen Thanh Huong, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Police, one of the difficulties in management, especially in fire prevention and fighting, in these old apartment buildings is the lack of maintenance funds and renovation costs. “Investors or management boards do not have a maintenance fund or fixed budget to maintain, renovate, and repair the apartment buildings. Many residents are workers with low incomes, so mobilizing contributions for repairs is difficult,” said Major General Nguyen Thanh Huong.

According to the Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Police, the most serious problem at present is the illegal expansion and cover-up that is very common in old apartment buildings. Many people arbitrarily expand and expand the living space, increasing the risk of fire and hindering fire fighting and rescue work. In recent times, the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City have paid great attention and closely directed the propaganda work on fire prevention and fighting, including issuing many directives and regulations related to fire prevention and fighting work for apartment buildings, but this situation still exists.

Ho Chi Minh City Police recommends that people need to clearly understand the causes of fires in order to be aware of managing heat sources, fire sources and flammable substances in daily life. In particular, it is necessary to pay attention to illegal expansion and cover, because this is a serious problem, blocking escape routes and increasing the risk of fire spreading. People need to have basic fire prevention equipment and clear escape routes at their residences and workplaces; pay special attention to flammable materials such as spider webs, accumulated dust and decorative paintings...

Ho Chi Minh City has been investing a lot of resources in fire prevention and fighting. New fire trucks have been invested; human resources have been trained in depth, reacting quickly and more professionally; equipment is increasingly modern... However, if people are still indifferent to their own safety and that of their families, still indifferent to the overloaded electrical lines in their bedrooms and kitchens, and consider locked emergency exits as normal... then all efforts will be too late when an incident occurs.

At the same time, for fire prevention to truly become ingrained in our lifestyle, it is necessary to start with simple actions, persistently repeated every day. One afternoon in July, in the small alley 803 Huynh Tan Phat Street, Phu Thuan Ward Police officers gently knocked on the door of each rented room, handed out leaflets and talked to residents about fire safety: “Fire prevention is not a personal matter, not a short-term movement, but a habit we need to build in our daily lives. And that culture needs to start with small actions every day. Just turning off electrical equipment before leaving the house, checking the kitchen... is enough to prevent the risk of fire, explosion, electrical short circuit, maintaining safety and peace for every home”.

National Assembly Delegate TO THI BICH CHAU, former Vice President of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front of Ho Chi Minh City:

Closely monitor new construction or home repair projects

I think it is necessary to clearly define the level and risk of fire and explosion in apartment buildings and residential areas in order to publicly and transparently announce the list of high-risk locations. Many apartments, houses, and boarding houses are fenced like "tiger cages" which are extremely dangerous in case of fire and explosion. The demolition needs to be carefully considered based on the architectural structure of each apartment, to avoid affecting the overall safety of the building. The safety of people's lives must be put first in every decision.

In the process of implementing solutions, it is necessary to create time conditions for people to be able to repair and dismantle unsafe items, especially in the context of Ho Chi Minh City mobilizing people to remove "tiger cages" - iron cage structures that cover balconies or windows, obstructing escape routes in case of fire.

In addition, the authorities and local governments need to step up propaganda work on fire prevention and fighting to raise awareness and form self-awareness among the people. When people are equipped with knowledge, are reminded regularly and understand the dangers, they will gradually form safe living habits, thereby contributing to building a responsible and proactive urban living culture with fire safety.

At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen supervision from the beginning of new constructions, renovations or repairs of houses, boarding houses... to ensure that the initial design fully complies with fire prevention regulations. Only when ensuring fire safety becomes a permanent awareness in the community can we minimize the unfortunate consequences caused by fire and explosion.

CIVILIZED take note

CAM TUYET - THU HOAI

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/bien-phong-chay-thanh-thoi-quen-post803906.html