Fire prevention and escape equipment: Chinese goods are still out of stock at exorbitant prices

Spend tens of millions to buy fire prevention and fighting equipment

After several phone calls to fire protection equipment stores asking for advice on choosing items for her family, Ms. Duong Ngoc Lan Phuong (Linh Dam, Hoang Mai, Hanoi) decided to order a series of equipment with a total value of nearly 40 million VND.

Ms. Phuong confided that her house is on the 14th floor of an apartment building. In the past, because she believed that the apartment building had a fire protection system, she did not buy any escape equipment, not even a personal fire extinguisher. However, after several recent apartment fires, especially the fire in an apartment building in Saigon that killed many people, she began to feel insecure and no longer had confidence in the fire protection system of the building she was living in.

“We don’t want fires to happen. But when something unfortunate happens, before waiting for the fire department to save us, we should save ourselves first.” She said she decided to buy a combo of escape and fire prevention equipment for the whole family including: fire escape ladder, fire extinguisher, escape hammer, and 4 sets of fireproof clothing and gas masks for each family member. All are high-quality items, and cannot burn when exposed to fire.

Actually, spending nearly 40 million is quite a large amount of money for her family, but they cannot be cheap and buy poor quality products.

“There are many types of escape and fire protection equipment on the market. But Vietnamese products are mostly cheap, so I choose to buy Chinese products because the seller said their quality is better,” Ms. Phuong shared.

Also worried about the fire protection system in her apartment building, Ms. Dao Thu Vinh in Cau Giay (Hanoi) also decided to spend more than 20 million VND to buy the most necessary escape equipment in case of fire.

Ms. Vinh said that her apartment is a high-end apartment building, and there has never been a fire incident. However, prevention is better than cure, because no one can predict when the "fire lady" may come to "visit". Therefore, she decided to buy several dozen meters of fire escape ladders, two fire extinguishers and several gas masks for family members. All of these items are placed in a wooden cabinet on the balcony, so that they can be easily taken out when needed.

In addition, the balcony was previously covered with sturdy iron bars to prevent theft, but now she had to hire a worker to cut away a part of it, making a door that could be opened and closed. Because if it was sealed like a tiger cage, even if she bought a fire escape ladder, she would not know which way to escape in case of fire, she said.

High priced Chinese goods are still out of stock

With the rush to buy escape and fire protection equipment for families, this market is extremely vibrant with all different origins from Vietnamese goods to Chinese goods, imported goods from Europe and America. Accordingly, the prices of the equipment range from a few tens of thousands to a few million VND.

For example, gas masks, if they are the popular type, cost from 180,000-500,000 VND/piece, the high-end type costs up to 2.2 million VND/piece; Vietnamese escape ladders cost about 100,000-150,000 VND/meter, fireproof escape ladders cost 2.5 million VND/meter; fire-fighting clothing costs 500,000 VND/set, fireproof type costs 2.5 million VND/set; fire extinguishers in particular cost depending on the weight of the bottle...

In addition to escape devices, the market also has an influx of escape backpacks imported from Europe, priced up to $1,500 each.

Mr. Nguyen Van Khuong, owner of a store selling escape and fire protection equipment in District 1 (HCMC) said that after the Carina Apartment fire, everyone rushed to buy fire protection equipment. Therefore, the amount of goods sold each day increased 5 times compared to normal days.

In the past, sales were sluggish because not many people paid attention to fire protection equipment. Now, due to insecurity, families are looking to buy more. According to Mr. Khuong, the equipment he sells includes both Vietnamese and Chinese goods (goods of Chinese origin). Of which, Vietnamese goods are quite affordable, with only a few million VND, customers can buy a complete set of escape and fire protection equipment for their whole family, and Vietnamese goods are always available, customers do not have to order in advance.

As for Chinese goods, the current price is quite high, because most of them are fireproof, cannot burn or are very difficult to burn when exposed to fire. Accordingly, if you buy this line, the price for a full set (including ladder, mask, clothes, fire extinguisher) can be up to 20-50 million VND.

"Even though it's Chinese goods, due to the sharp increase in customers, in the past two days, customers who want to buy have to deposit money in advance and can only receive the goods a week later," he said.

Similarly, Mr. Tran Viet Tu, owner of a fire protection equipment store in Hoang Mai (Hanoi), also said that some items such as Vietnamese rope ladders priced at 100,000 VND/m are always available in the store, as are fire extinguishers.

However, Chinese fireproof ladders cost 350,000 VND/m, gas masks, and high-quality fireproof clothing are currently "out of stock".

According to Mr. Tu, a “combo” of fire protection equipment costs only about 2-4 million VND. However, if you choose to buy a high-end Chinese product, the price can be up to tens of millions of VND and you have to order about 15 days to 1 month in advance for the goods to arrive.

In fact, he used to import a lot of cheap goods because he thought that everyone would buy those because of their affordable prices. However, most customers now choose to buy high-end Chinese goods despite the high prices. This is because people are starting to pay more attention to the safety of their families.