People rushed to buy fire-fighting equipment to practice escaping from high floors.

In recent days, fire-fighting equipment businesses in Hanoi have become in high demand after the fire at a mini apartment building in Khuong Ha alley that killed 56 people. Image at a store in Thanh Xuan district, customers began to flock to place orders from September 13. The number of orders suddenly skyrocketed, in which fire escape ladders, fire extinguishers, protective masks, protective hats and gloves were the most popular equipment.

Mr. Tuc - the owner of a rental apartment in Gia Lam district, traveled 20km to this store early in the morning to buy fire prevention and alarm equipment. He had equipped all floors with 2 MFZ8 fire extinguishers, however, to upgrade the fire alarm equipment in the basement and other floors, Mr. Tuc had to buy 5 more fire extinguishers at the price of 535,000 VND/unit.

Fire alarms are also a sought-after item these days. There are two popular types: wireless and wired, priced from 300,000 - 700,000 VND/unit.

Mr. Linh (in blue shirt), head of the technical department at a rescue cable company, said that the number of customers coming to the store has been overloaded for the past 3 days. Every day, there are 30-40 orders for installation in buildings and apartments in Hanoi's inner city.

Previously, the escape rope equipment was mostly wholesale orders from business areas. However, due to the recent surge in customers, the technical department at the store had to increase the number of 6 people from the warehouse to promptly support transportation and installation.

"I bought the cable device and considered it as a family insurance. I bought it because I was worried and insecure and hoped I would never have to use it in the future," said Mr. Tuan, the owner of an apartment in Khuong Dinh ward, Thanh Xuan district.

Depending on the height of the house, each family should choose a suitable device to prevent emergencies. Escalators are suitable for tube houses from the 2nd or 3rd floor. For high-rise apartments, the escape rope will be used more effectively when it automatically operates thanks to the speed reducer. This part will keep the user from "free falling" when using it.

Following Mr. Vinh, a resident living on the 11th floor of an apartment building on Minh Khai Street, home from the fire equipment store, the reporter witnessed this man immediately testing the load capacity of the escape cable worth 4.6 million VND. He affirmed that this was to minimize the risks if a fire broke out here.

Previously, Mr. Vinh was advised to use a 33m long wire set, but because he was impatient and could not wait for the goods ordered from abroad for too long, Mr. Vinh agreed to buy a 45m wire to cut without caring about the price difference between the two sets of wires.

Mr. Thuc's family of three generations lives in an apartment building and is very concerned about everyone's safety. "I chose to buy this cable, although it is expensive, because the cable has a special steel core used in the aviation industry. The outside is covered with synthetic fibers and is fireproof at high temperatures of 1,500 degrees Celsius. I cannot put the lives of my family members on cables that cost a few hundred dongs at the market," Mr. Thuc confided.