The market for fire-fighting and escape equipment in Nghe An 'heats up' after the mini-apartment fire in Hanoi
(Baonghean.vn) - After the news of a large fire at a mini apartment building in Hanoi, in Nghe An, the market for fire prevention and fire fighting and escape equipment has been of interest to people, who are looking to buy it to equip their families, especially in high-rise apartments and boarding houses.
Recently, there have been many fires across the country, especially the fire at a mini apartment building on Khuong Ha Street, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi on the night of September 12, which killed 56 people and injured dozens of others, a wake-up call for fire prevention and fighting.
After this incident, the market for fire protection and escape equipment in Nghe An has shown signs of heating up. Customers are mainly residents living in apartments, high-rise buildings, and owners of boarding houses in Vinh City and districts.
Mr. Phan Van Tai, residing at Kim Truong Thi apartment building, Vinh city, said: After hearing about the fire in Hanoi, my family was very anxious because we live in an apartment building. Although the apartment building was built a few years ago, the basic fire prevention systems are guaranteed, but we cannot be complacent. Therefore, I immediately bought 2 fire extinguishers and a 20 meter long fire escape ladder, in case of fire or explosion.
On the morning of September 14, Mr. Nguyen Bui Thai - the owner of a 3-storey boarding house in Hong Son ward also looked into buying a fire extinguisher on Cao Xuan Huy street, Vinh city. Mr. Thai shared: After the big fire in Hanoi, I was also very concerned about the problem of fire and explosion. My family rents out dozens of closed rooms, I also regularly educate my children on fire prevention and fighting requirements, however, there are unforeseen incidents such as gas leaks during cooking, charging cars overnight, smoking and throwing cigarette butts around... Therefore, I have equipped each floor with 2-3 fire extinguishers, so that in case of an incident, I can be proactive.
On the morning of September 14, establishments selling fire-fighting and escape equipment in Vinh City were busier than usual. This product is unique, so the number of businesses is not too many, concentrated along Phan Boi Chau, Le Loi, Cao Xuan Huy streets, and large markets.
A representative of a fire protection equipment business in Vinh Tan ward said: After the fire in Hanoi, the number of people looking to buy fire protection equipment increased dramatically. In particular, our fire escape ladders were out of stock on the morning of September 14, the number of gas masks was only a few, the most remaining goods were fire extinguishers because we imported them in large quantities. Customers are mainly people living in apartment buildings, high-rise business establishments, administrative units and many owners of motels, hotels...
According to the survey, the price of fire protection and escape equipment varies, depending on the brand, country of manufacture, weight, and size. For example, Chinese powder fire extinguishers cost from 200,000 - 230,000 VND/bottle, Japanese powder fire extinguishers cost 330,000 VND/bottle; gas fire extinguishers cost over 500,000 VND/bottle.
Gas masks cost from 200,000 to 500,000 VND depending on the manufacturer. Fire escape ladders are usually sold for a minimum of 10 meters, each meter costs from 70,000 to 100,000 VND. In addition, other rescue tools such as sledgehammers (used to break doors), iron cutters (to break tiger cages, sealed balconies) are also in demand by people, priced from 100,000 to 200,000 VND.
As for alarm systems, smoke alarms, fire alarms... we usually do not sell them individually but install them as systems in buildings, high-rise buildings...
According to experts' recommendations, preparing fire prevention and escape equipment to proactively deal with fires is necessary, but people's skills are also very important. Because most people today are not trained in the necessary escape skills, buy them but do not carefully read the instructions, or many people cannot handle them due to urgent situations. Therefore, when an incident occurs, people need to be calm and handle situations calmly to have a high chance of escaping.
Previously, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued Official Dispatch No. 6368/UBND-NC dated August 2 on strengthening fire prevention and fighting (PCCC) work for residential areas, households, and houses for housing combined with production and business in the area.
The document clearly stated that in recent times, the fire and explosion situation in the whole country in general and Nghe An province in particular has been evolving and potentially complicated, especially for households and houses for living combined with production and business. In particular, recently in a number of localities across the country, there have been consecutive fires causing very serious human losses, affecting the security and order situation and causing anxiety among the people.
Localities and departments organize the launch of the movement "My house has a fire extinguisher" for all cadres, party members, civil servants, public employees, workers in agencies, units and all people in the area; in which, it is required to promote the role and responsibility of cadres, party members, civil servants, public employees, armed forces in agencies and units, to be exemplary in self-equipping with fire extinguishers in their households; strive to have 100% of households of cadres, party members, civil servants, public employees, and armed forces officers in the system of State agencies in the province have fire extinguishers by September 30, 2023.