Poor fire protection equipment, present risk of fire and explosion
According to Lao Dong reporters on October 30, boarding houses and mini apartments for rent on Trieu Khuc Street (Thanh Tri District), Le Duc Tho Street (Nam Tu Liem District), Phan Ke Binh Street (Ba Dinh District)... located near universities, colleges, and offices in Hanoi are attracting a large number of workers, students, and pupils looking to rent.
Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy (born in 1990, renting a room on Le Duc Tho Street, Hanoi) confided that many fires in high-rise and mini-apartment buildings have made tenants like her more cautious when looking for a rental house. Although the price is expensive, from August 2024, she is willing to pay an additional 1 million VND/month to find a satisfactory room with a balcony, a second escape route, and fire safety.
"Although the authorities have conducted fire safety checks in recent months, many landlords in the alley are still quite indifferent and contemptuous, making tenants like me very worried. At the end of August 2024, I had to move to another place because the landlord did not cut down the tiger cage, install a fire alarm, or open an emergency exit when the house had about 20 rooms for rent at a price of 3.5 million VND/room/month.
Similarly, Trinh Thi Ngoc (born in 1999, renting a mini apartment in Ba Dinh district, Hanoi) informed that, for the convenience of work, Ngoc agreed to rent a room for 3.5 million VND/month on Phan Ke Binh street, including electricity, water and living expenses. Although the living space is too cramped and stuffy, the rental house has no emergency exit, but renters like Ngoc have to accept it because it is currently difficult to find a rental house with the above price.
The latest statistics from the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department (Ministry of Public Security) show that in October 2024, there were 282 fires nationwide, killing 4 people, injuring 8 people, and causing preliminary property damage of 150.72 billion VND. Compared to September 2024, there were 53 fewer fires, but 2 more injuries, and preliminary property damage was estimated to increase by 89 billion VND.
Proposal not to apply a common fire prevention standard
In fact, the type of housing combined with business has complicated developments, when fires often cause great damage to property and human life, while the current Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting has no provisions on specific solutions to overcome the situation of fire and explosion. Accordingly, the draft law supplements regulations in the direction of determining specific fire safety conditions, equipping fire prevention and fighting means and equipment, ensuring escape routes when fire and explosion situations occur.
Regarding fire prevention for facilities, delegate Dang Bich Ngoc (Hoa Binh delegation) said that the system of fire prevention and fighting standards has contributed significantly to shaping the basic technical regulations system on safety and fire fighting for houses and buildings, reducing risks and casualties for people.
According to the delegate, the construction of individual housing projects with many floors and many apartments (mini apartments) without planning, without permission, without permission, and without ensuring fire prevention and fighting standards and regulations leads to potential risks of incidents, unsafe construction, and many fires with tragic consequences.
"Fires often occur in degraded residential areas, karaoke services, motels, flammable production and business establishments, houses in alleys, places containing flammable substances, and places where fire fighting is very difficult," said the delegate.
Delegates suggested that regulations should clearly distinguish between types of production and business establishments that are prone to fire and explosion, and that strict fire prevention regulations should be applied to these types. As for establishments that rarely have fires and are easy to extinguish, easier fire prevention and safety regulations will reduce costs for businesses and people.
For facilities that are prone to fire, if they do not have sufficient conditions for fire prevention, the facility can change its production and business form to another field, which will be suitable for all types of production and business in fire prevention. According to the delegate, it is unreasonable to prescribe a common technical regulation and standard applicable to all production and business facilities.
According to the delegate of Hoa Binh delegation, in practice, during the survey, there were many opinions from businesses as well as individuals with suggestions on how to pay attention in the process of organizing and implementing fire prevention and fighting work at the grassroots level to achieve effectiveness.
Strengthening sanctions against constructions violating fire safety requirements
Delegate Nguyen Thi Thu Ha (Quang Ninh delegation) said that in reality, the number of houses combined with business is very large. If it is not clearly defined, it will be difficult to determine which houses are doing business or not doing business in dangerous goods of fire and explosion, affecting and influencing many subjects. Therefore, it is also necessary to supplement the concept of dangerous goods of fire and explosion and propose that the Government be assigned to regulate the list of dangerous goods of fire and explosion.
Delegate To Ai Vang (Soc Trang delegation) acknowledged that in recent times, in some big cities, there have been many high-rise apartment building fires with huge losses in human lives and property, creating negative impacts on people's awareness of high-rise apartment buildings. There are many causes, including the violation of regulations in the system of fire prevention and fighting standards.
From the above situation, delegates recommended that the Government should soon adjust the system of technical standards and regulations to meet the rapid development of the current urban construction and development sector. Increase the use and promote modern technology to effectively resolve the disadvantages in escaping and rescuing people in high-rise buildings.
The delegate said that the Government needs to strengthen sanctions against constructions that violate fire safety requirements, especially in implementing regulations on planning, construction, appraisal and acceptance of constructions. Although these contents are stipulated in Article 14 on fire safety requirements when establishing, investigating and approving construction plans, they need to be further studied to improve them in the future.
Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh - Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Real Estate Brokers (VARS) - said that after many fire incidents in "alley houses" causing serious consequences, it is necessary to strengthen inspection and supervision of service quality, especially fire prevention and fighting. At the same time, there is also a need for more detailed regulations on rental business standards, from low-rise housing to high-rise buildings.
However, according to experts, all of the above solutions are only short-term solutions to the housing problem because in the long run, the number of immigrants to Hanoi to study and work, estimated at hundreds of thousands of people each year, is increasing. Therefore, building housing for low-income people with synchronous solutions requires the attention of managers.
