Fire prevention work: Need to be drastic and regular, not just a matter of "covering up leaks"

According to the Government 's report, the fire situation is complicated and unpredictable, and the general review of fire prevention and fighting in mini apartments is being completed before November 15. Review, inspection, and assessment to have preventive solutions is necessary for all fields, not just for fires or fields where incidents have occurred. Unfortunately, we have not done this well, only when "the incident has already happened" do the authorities "startled" to remember and issue documents requesting review, inspection, and assessment of the current situation, which is truly regrettable. Review, inspection, and assessment must be considered a periodic task and must be done regularly, and cannot wait until an incident occurs to conduct review, inspection, tighten, and restore discipline. Only then will the situation of "closing the barn door after the horse has fled" not be repeated.

More than 1,900 fires, killing 144 people

According to the report, from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023, there were more than 1,900 fires nationwide, killing 144 people, injuring 113 people, causing property damage estimated at more than VND 315 billion and 306 hectares of forest. Of which, 93 major fires caused serious damage, killing 144 people, injuring 67 people, and causing property damage estimated at more than VND 280 billion. The fires occurred mainly in residential areas, especially individual houses and houses combined with production and business. For example, the fire at a mini apartment building on Khuong Ha Street (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi ) on September 12 killed 56 people.

The Government stated that the fire and explosion situation is complicated and unpredictable. Regarding the handling of constructions that do not ensure fire safety, the Government said that through review, there are 5,805 facilities nationwide that do not ensure fire safety requirements that have been put into use. More than 8,000 constructions that have not been inspected for fire safety have been put into use. For these constructions, local police will resolutely handle violations, temporarily suspend or suspend operations, and publicly post information.

Fire prevention work needs to be regular and decisive, not just a sudden change. Image 1

In the inspection and examination of fire prevention, fighting and rescue, according to the Minister of Public Security , in 2023, the Ministry directed the inspection of more than 510,000 establishments, discovering nearly 250,000 shortcomings. The authorities drew up nearly 30,000 records of administrative violations in the field of fire prevention and fighting. Nearly 9,000 cases of administrative violations in the field of fire prevention and fighting were fined with a total fine of nearly 290 billion VND. At the same time, nearly 4,000 cases were temporarily suspended and more than 3,000 cases were suspended.

According to the Minister of Public Security, the Ministry is currently directing the Public Security forces nationwide to preside over and coordinate with departments and branches to conduct a general review and inspection of fire prevention and fighting safety in apartment buildings, multi-apartment houses, and rental service businesses with high population density... This is to assess the current situation, have immediate solutions to limit fires and explosions, and will be completed before November 15 to compile a report.

The Government said that in many localities, especially large cities, households have arbitrarily converted their homes from residential to commercial and production-related housing without permission from the State management agency. Some investors have not complied with fire prevention and fighting regulations, and many projects have been put into use without fire prevention and fighting acceptance documents.

Among the subjective causes mentioned, the Government believes that the awareness and sense of responsibility of localities and heads of agencies on fire prevention and fighting are still limited. In some places, there is still a situation of lax management of construction activities. The situation of unlicensed, illegal and unauthorized construction occurs in many areas, especially big cities. Many types of individual houses are arbitrarily converted by people into multi-apartment houses (often called mini-apartments), boarding houses with high population density, houses combined with production and business...

The report pointed out that these types of "transformations" have not been specifically regulated by law, causing difficulties for management agencies because they are not considered and licensed to design safety conditions before putting them into use, causing a very high risk of insecurity. From there, the Government proposed that the National Assembly direct the completion of the legal corridor for fire prevention and fighting work. Strengthen supervision to raise awareness and responsibility of heads of units.

In addition, the Government proposed that the National Assembly prioritize capital allocation for investment projects in the field of fire prevention, fire fighting, rescue when considering and deciding on the allocation of medium-term and annual public investment capital plans. According to the report, the investment budget for this work is about 3,300 billion VND, of which more than 1,200 billion VND is invested in equipping fire prevention, fire fighting and rescue equipment; more than 350 billion VND is for building headquarters and barracks and more than 1,600 billion VND is spent on other activities.

It's not just a matter of "covering up leaks"

“Review” is a phrase that has been mentioned and used frequently after each incident or disaster that has occurred in a number of industries and fields in recent times. It is necessary to change the mindset of “waiting until the horse has fled before building the barn”, only when an incident occurs should we urgently review and inspect. Is it true that for a long time, the inspection and evaluation steps have not been given due importance in state management at all levels in a number of fields? What lessons can be learned from reality?

Over the years, whenever there has been a serious fatal incident, the heads of local authorities and all levels of government have issued directives and official dispatches requesting inspections and reviews, followed by massive inspections of areas related to those incidents. However, these solutions are only temporary.

Fire prevention work needs to be regular and decisive, not just a sudden change. Image 2

Once again, the alarm bell is ringing to warn us all about the unpredictable disaster of fire. It is so painful that the fire at the mini apartment building at No. 37, Alley 29/70, Khuong Ha Street (Khuong Dinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi) broke out at around 11:20 p.m. on September 12, killing 56 people and injuring 37 others (as of 7:00 p.m. on September 13). This serious fire has caused great loss and grief to the families of the victims, and has left a lasting impression on society. And it must have also "startled" state management agencies at all levels on the issue of ensuring the safety of people's lives in general and in fire prevention and fighting in particular.

Immediately after the fire incident, Hanoi urgently requested districts to conduct a general inspection and review of all multi-apartment and rental housing facilities in the area, especially mini-apartments. However, from the fire incident on Khuong Ha street, the authorities will find the causes leading to this serious incident, but certainly there are also many shortcomings in state management... in which, overlapping responsibilities, lack of responsibility in management or subjectivity, neglect of inspection and supervision cannot be ignored and named.

Perhaps, it is not only this serious fire incident that makes people startled. The community must not have forgotten the fire at Karaoke bar No. 68 Tran Thai Tong Street (Cau Giay District, Hanoi) that killed 13 people, and Hanoi also promptly decided to temporarily suspend all Karaoke bars in the area for a general review. The work of temporarily suspending operations to review fire prevention and fighting at Karaoke bars also encountered many shortcomings.

The controversial debates of public opinion on the work of granting fire prevention and fighting licenses for the Karaoke industry... have not yet subsided when the fire and explosion incident occurs again. However, the tragic deaths seem to be not enough to alert the community as well as the state management work in the field of fire prevention and fighting. Today, society has to shed many tears when receiving more bad news about the fire and the unjust deaths of innocent souls in the mini apartment building No. 37, alley 29/70, Khuong Ha street, Hanoi.

In the context of rapid urbanization, along with the wave of migration from rural to urban areas, the demand for housing in urban areas, especially large cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, has increased dramatically. In the context of the current lack of strict urban construction management, if fire prevention is done in a way that covers leaks, catastrophic disasters cannot be avoided. Therefore, to avoid the consequences caused by the fire god, there must be a solution that is both comprehensive and synchronous, as well as very detailed and specific.

The work of reviewing, checking, and evaluating to have preventive solutions is necessary for all fields, not only for fires or fields where incidents have occurred. Unfortunately, we have not done this well, only when "the incident has already happened" do the authorities "startled" to remember and issue documents requesting to review, check, and evaluate the current situation, which is truly regrettable.

It is necessary to consider the work of reviewing, inspecting, and evaluating as a periodic task and must be done regularly, and not wait until an incident occurs to conduct review, inspection, tightening, and re-establishing discipline. Only then will the situation of "closing the barn door after the horse has fled" not be repeated.

Khanh An

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