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Nationwide fire safety campaign launched

By Zhang Xin and Hu Yinan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-20 07:38

Following a series of major fires in at least three regions of the country in the past one month, authorities have decided to conduct a nationwide inspection of fire-fighting facilities in public venues, high-rise buildings and underground structures, the Ministry of Public Security said on its website yesterday.

The safety drive, which is scheduled to last till September, will also involve local departments, like the construction and health sectors, to ensure all structures meet the mandatory fire safety standards, the notice said.

Insulation materials, fire prevention measures, and fire-fighting equipment in all structures will also be reviewed, it said.

Fire control and rescue facilities, such as alarms, emergency exits, extinguishers, water pumps, smoke-resistant stairways, fire elevators and evacuation lights in the structures will have to be in proper working condition, it said.

The staff responsible for fire safety "should be qualified and trained to take safety measures in an emergency", it said.

On Feb 1, 17 people were killed and 22 injured in a fire reportedly caused by the use of banned fireworks inside a bar in Changle, Fujian province.

Just four days later, another fire in a 9-story residential building in the Hanzhengjie wholesale market in Wuhan, Hubei province, killed one and injured 10 others.

5 more held for CCTV blaze

Beijing police yesterday detained five more suspects in connection with the fire that broke out in the capital's 30-story CCTV complex last week, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The five detained include a driver who allegedly transported the illegal fireworks that set off the blaze, a "middleman" who contacted the fireworks company to "stage the show" at the site and those who led the group in an attempted escape after police arrived at the scene.

The latest arrests bring the total number of people held for the fire to 17. Twelve people, including senior CCTV official Xu Wei, were detained on Feb 11, two days after the blaze.

The blaze gutted a building on the site of the new CCTV headquarters. A firefighter was killed and seven others injured trying to control the fire.