Prime Minister chairs national online conference on fire prevention and fighting

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee - Huynh Van Son (middle) presided at the Long An province bridge

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed the importance of the conference, especially in the context of a number of recent fires causing extremely serious consequences for people and property; especially the fire in a multi-storey house and many apartments in Khuong Dinh ward, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi city that killed 56 people.

The Prime Minister pointed out that this is a warning bell and shows that the situation is very urgent, requiring immediate and feasible solutions to effectively prevent and contain fires; ensuring the safety of life, health and property for people and businesses.

According to the report of the Ministry of Public Security on the situation and results of the implementation of Directive No. 01/CT-TTg and the Prime Minister's telegrams on fire prevention and fighting, from December 15, 2022 to November 15, 2023, there were 2,927 fires and fire incidents nationwide (of which urban areas accounted for 66.2%, rural areas accounted for 38.2%), causing 134 deaths, 101 injuries, estimated property damage of VND 229.75 billion and 207 hectares of forest; 10 explosions occurred, killing 5 people and injuring 18 people.

Fires and damages caused by fires are still concentrated in residential houses and houses combined with production and business, accounting for 41.5%, of which the cause is due to electrical system and equipment failures accounting for 61.6%.

Regarding the organization of fire fighting and rescue, the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police and the local Public Security Forces dispatched 10,756 vehicles and 67,472 officers and soldiers to organize fire fighting and rescue in 2,493/3,930 fire, accident and incident cases; directly rescued 885 people, searched for 782 victims' bodies, protected assets worth thousands of billions of VND and saved assets worth about 270 billion VND.

Implementing the direction in Directive 01/CT-TTg and the Prime Minister's telegrams on fire prevention and fighting, ministries, branches and local People's Committees have seriously implemented it. Fire prevention and fighting and search and rescue work has had many positive changes, people's awareness and knowledge of fire prevention and fighting have been increasingly raised. Local authorities at all levels have recognized their roles and responsibilities in fire prevention and fighting and search and rescue work. The system of legal documents on fire prevention and fighting and search and rescue has been increasingly improved, meeting practical requirements.

However, fire prevention and rescue work still has limitations. The situation of fires and explosions in households and houses combined with production and business is still complicated. Many households arbitrarily change the function from housing to houses combined with production and business; many projects have not been granted fire prevention and rescue acceptance documents but have been put into use. Equipment for the fire prevention and rescue police force is still modest, especially personal equipment to ensure the safety of soldiers. Some ministries, branches and localities are not really determined in fire prevention and rescue work.

During the discussion, a number of ministries, branches and localities focused on issues such as the fire and explosion situation in the locality; leadership and direction of Party committees and authorities, responsibilities of heads of agencies and units; awareness, knowledge and skills of people on fire prevention and fighting and search and rescue; inspection, examination and sanctions for violations; fire prevention and fighting and search and rescue capacity of agencies, units and organizations, etc.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated the efforts and achievements of ministries, branches and localities in fire prevention and fighting and search and rescue work, especially the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police force, who have made efforts and sacrificed to fulfill their tasks well.

In addition to the achieved results, the Prime Minister said that fire prevention and fighting work still has many limitations and weaknesses; inspection, examination and handling of violations are not strict. Propaganda, drills and practice have not achieved much results and have not been put into practice. Some ministries, branches and localities have been slow and ineffective in carrying out assigned tasks; heads of organizations and enterprises have not yet recognized the importance of fire prevention and fighting work to come up with appropriate solutions.

The Prime Minister also stated the viewpoint that people must be the target, placing people at the center of fire prevention and fighting work. He proposed to further strengthen the leadership of Party committees at all levels and state management in fire prevention and fighting work. Heads of ministries, branches and localities should further enhance the responsibility of their leaders in performing assigned tasks; continue to coordinate closely, propose good and effective solutions and practices to effectively carry out fire prevention and fighting work in the new situation; mobilize the combined strength of the entire political system and resources of the whole society to develop infrastructure to serve fire prevention and fighting and rescue work.

In addition, the head of the Government also requested ministries, branches and localities to promptly overcome the causes, limitations and shortcomings that have been identified, thereby finding solutions to overcome and effectively implement fire prevention and fighting and search and rescue work in the new situation; closely following the assigned functions and tasks, all levels and branches must promptly complete appropriate regulations and instructions. In particular, it is necessary to enhance the effectiveness of propaganda, education and guidance on fire prevention and fighting and search and rescue skills for the people; strengthen inspection, examination and strictly handle violations related to fire prevention and fighting and search and rescue according to the provisions of law./.

Khanh Duy

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