Fire and explosion risks at homes and businesses near Tet

Potential risks

Goods are arranged in a messy manner, encroaching on the aisles, many establishments do not have emergency exits, and lack automatic power cut-off systems in case of fire... This is the reality that we have recorded at a number of households that combine housing with business in Vinh city.

For example, in Ben Thuy ward, there are currently more than 500 business households, many of which combine houses for business purposes, which have potential fire and explosion risks. A representative of the People's Committee of Ben Thuy ward said that recently, the ward's inspection team has conducted inspections of business households combined with houses in the area.

The delegation warned and administratively fined Mr. NLK's family in block 10 for selling shoes and handbags, but the family members and store staff were not trained in fire prevention and did not fully understand safety regulations. The goods were displayed unscientifically, obstructing the escape route and increasing the risk of fire spreading if a fire occurred.

This is also one of the causes of major fires with serious consequences that have occurred in some localities across the country recently. The most recent example was at 4:50 a.m. on January 4, a major fire broke out at the gate of Lim village, Lim town, Tien Du district, Bac Ninh province. The fire area was a three-story house, the first floor was used for selling electric bicycles, the second and third floors were used for living. Due to the combustible materials including electric bicycles, plastic and electrical equipment, the amount of smoke and toxic gas produced made firefighting and rescue work difficult. Although the fire was extinguished after 20 minutes, the victim - the daughter of the store owner - died after being taken to the hospital.

However, according to the assessment of the authorities, the fire and explosion situation in the province is still potentially complicated. In particular, in residential areas, many houses are designed in a tubular shape, adjacent and close together, not ensuring fire safety distance. Most of these buildings lack backup escape routes as well as effective fire prevention solutions.

Notably, due to the increasing demand for business, the renovation and conversion of houses into business premises is becoming more common. However, the management of fire prevention and fighting in this field still has many shortcomings.

For houses that combine production and business, the situation of having furniture and goods piled up near power sources, heat sources, or stacked in front of fire exits increases the risk of fire and explosion.

When an incident occurs, the emergency exit is blocked, the fire can easily flare up and spread quickly, making it difficult for authorities to access the scene to put out the fire and rescue.

Raise awareness and situation handling skills

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dinh Hanh - Deputy Head of the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Department (PCCC and CNCH) of Nghe An Provincial Police said that according to statistics, the whole province currently has 21,843 houses combined with production and business, of which 1,294 establishments are at high risk of fire and explosion.

To ensure fire prevention and fighting for this type of fire, the Provincial Police Department of Fire Prevention and Rescue has organized propaganda and training in residential areas, aiming to ensure that 100% of households and houses combining production and business have at least 1 person trained in fire prevention and fighting. Up to now, training on basic knowledge and skills on fire prevention and rescue has been organized for 916,632 people representing households, reaching 110% of the target.

In addition, the Provincial Police have built and expanded 1,118 inter-family fire safety teams for houses combined with production and business, thereby helping people promptly control and extinguish fires as soon as they arise, limiting the risk of fire spreading before professional forces arrive. In particular, the organization of the Fire Fighting and Rescue Competition "Inter-family Fire Safety Team" has attracted the attention of authorities at all levels and a large number of people, spreading the movement of the whole population participating in fire prevention and rescue in the province.

The Provincial Police also coordinated with the Department of Construction to advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue a document guiding a number of urgent solutions to enhance fire safety conditions for multi-storey houses, multi-apartment houses, and individual houses combined with production and business. At the same time, 602,350 fire safety inspections were conducted for this type, handling 239 violations with a total fine of 95.9 million VND.

However, with a large number of residential and commercial establishments, including 1,294 establishments with high risk of fire and explosion, during the peak period of preparation for the Lunar New Year 2025, if fire prevention and fighting measures are not promptly implemented, fire and explosion can cause serious damage.

Faced with that reality, the Provincial Police Department has advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue Plan No. 575/KH-UBND dated July 18, 2024 to implement Directive No. 19/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on strengthening fire prevention and fighting for multi-storey houses, multi-apartment houses and individual houses combined with production and business in the province. In particular, the People's Committees of districts, cities and towns are assigned to direct the People's Committees of communes, wards and towns to organize the review and classification of establishments and provide guidance on solutions to ensure fire prevention and fighting safety, especially for rental houses and houses combined with production and business. In particular, the heads of establishments and householders are required to commit to implementing fire prevention and fighting solutions according to the roadmap, to be completed before March 30, 2025. If not completed, the establishments will have to stop operating until the requirements on fire prevention and fighting safety are completed.

Next, the Provincial People's Committee issued Document No. 7293/UBND-CN dated August 26, 2024 on urgent solutions to strengthen fire safety conditions for multi-storey houses, multi-apartment houses, and houses combined with production and business (including rental houses). This document provides specific instructions on equipping fire safety equipment, ensuring escape conditions, arranging the premises and arranging items and goods to ensure fire safety as well as installing and using safe electrical systems.

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From now until Lunar New Year, in addition to promoting propaganda work, the police force will continue to coordinate with localities to carry out a peak period of fire safety inspections for residential areas, households, houses combined with production and business, and at the same time provide guidance on how to use and manage fire and heat sources safely; ensure forces and means are ready to respond to possible situations.
In addition to the close supervision of the authorities, each citizen needs to proactively comply with fire prevention and fighting regulations, equip themselves with fire fighting equipment and master the skills to handle situations when incidents occur, contributing to protecting the safety of life and property for themselves and the community.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dinh Hanh - Deputy Head of Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Department, Nghe An Provincial Police