Public disclosure of apartment buildings that do not ensure fire safety

On the morning of April 26, under the chairmanship of Ms. Cao Thi Hien - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council held a meeting to explain fire prevention and fighting work in the province.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Xuan Dai spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Le

According to the Fire Police Department's report, there are 5,921 facilities in the province under fire prevention and control, of which 3,019 are at risk of fire and explosion.

In recent times, fire prevention and fighting work in the province has achieved certain results, with no fires causing major damage to people and property.

However, there are still many limitations and shortcomings that need to be promptly overcome; the risk of fire and explosion is always latent, requiring the prevention work of people and authorities to be improved.

Questioning the Fire Police, Mr. Phan Duc Dong - Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Internal Affairs Committee, Head of the Provincial People's Council's Legal Committee said that in reality, the coordination in implementing fire prevention work between levels and sectors from the planning and licensing stages is not effective.

"The Provincial People's Committee is requested to clearly define solutions and sanctions in coordination and responsibilities of sectors and levels," said delegate Dong.

Delegate Phan Duc Dong proposed to enhance the responsibility of sectors and levels regarding fire prevention and fighting work. Photo: Thanh Le

Meanwhile, delegate Tran Duy Ngoan - Hoang Mai town unit reflected that people complained about the quality of fire prevention equipment, some equipment could not be used for 1 year but it was unclear who was responsible.

"Fire prevention work is still being neglected, especially fire prevention for apartment buildings over 10 floors has not received due attention," said Mr. Ngoan.

Regarding the shortcomings in fire prevention and fighting management, Ms. Thai Thi An Chung - Deputy Head of the Legal Committee of the Provincial People's Council said: "Many houses have changed their functions but do not meet fire prevention and fighting requirements but have not been supervised and managed. Many projects have not had their fire prevention and fighting plans approved, and there are also projects that have not been assessed for fire prevention and fighting but are still under construction."

Clarifying the issues that delegates were concerned about, Colonel Le Quoc Bao - Deputy Director of the Fire Police Department said that the current difficulties in firefighting requirements for 10-storey apartment buildings are very complicated, requiring space, roads and parking. In addition, firefighting equipment for these types of buildings is too expensive.

Fires are caused by electricity 60-65%, open fires 10-15% and other causes are about 20%.

Regarding the quality of fire protection equipment, according to the representative of the Fire Police, currently, fire extinguishers imported from China, at the time of inspection, meet the regulations. Due to the different lifespans of products originating from different countries, after a period of time, many products cannot be used.

“According to the upcoming project, the Fire Police Department will update nationwide information on fire management facilities,” Colonel Bao informed.

Colonel Le Quoc Bao - Deputy Director of Fire Police Department explained issues of concern to delegates. Photo: Thanh Le

Regarding the conversion of houses, Deputy Director of the Department of Construction Nguyen Truong Giang said: Currently in Vinh City, there are 59 houses converted to restaurants, karaoke, and motels. However, the Department only manages planning work, not usage.

According to Mr. Le Sy Chien - Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee, there are currently 57 apartment buildings in operation, only 16 apartment buildings have established management boards. This is a difficulty in fire prevention work in apartment buildings.

"In addition to strict sanctions, it is necessary to strengthen propaganda work so that everyone is aware that fire prevention is their responsibility," said Mr. Chien.

View of the meeting. Photo by Thanh Le

Concluding the meeting, Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Council Cao Thi Hien requested the Provincial People's Committee to direct all levels and sectors to review the construction of concrete piles and piles on roads that hinder fire fighting vehicles from performing their duties; review and renovate the electrical wiring and telecommunication cable systems; fire prevention and fighting systems in industrial parks and new urban areas to ensure compliance with regulations; research and equip fire fighting and rescue equipment for buildings over 10 floors and fire fighting boats on rivers and seas.

In addition, Ms. Hien said that it is necessary to strengthen propaganda and dissemination of knowledge about fire prevention and fighting in the direction of innovating forms and contents to attract people to participate; strengthen inspection, examination and handling of responsibilities of heads of agencies and organizations in state management of fire prevention and fighting.

Violations of fire safety regulations must be strictly handled. In case of serious violations, operations must be temporarily suspended or suspended according to regulations.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council also requested the Provincial People's Committee to publicize the list of apartment buildings and investors violating the regulations on mass media so that voters and people can know and monitor the correction of violations; have a plan to inspect and correct violations, avoid the situation where inspections are carried out vigorously but after the inspection, they are sloppy and slow to correct violations.