Chen Weiming

Editor's Note: Though more than a month has passed, the tragic Jiaozhou Road fire in Shanghai on November 15 still rings a warning to us. Skyscrapers are sprouting up across China, with Zhengzhou in Henan Province starting on Wednesday the construction of the tallest twin towers in China. But can China's current firefighting capacities keep pace with urbanization? What improvements does China still need to make in this area? Global Times (GT) reporter Xu Ming talked to Chen Weiming (Chen), director-general of the Ministry of Public Security Fire Bureau, on these issues.

GT: The Jiaozhou Road fire occurred in China's largest city. Can China's firefighting capacity keep pace with urbanization and high-rise safety issues?

Chen: First, it must be noted that high-rise buildings pose fire safety issues all over the world. Other countries have various ways of approaching these issues. The key is prevention. From equipment to construction, installation, maintenance and supervision, there has to be a constant effort to minimize security risks.

Internationally, there is an accepted rule, which says that accidents result from an accumulation of small signs and dysfunctions. Behind each serious accident, there are 29 minor accidents, 300 signs and 1,000 accident threats. Investigations can identify and eliminate accident risks.

Why are there less terrible fires in developed countries? Because they pay more attention to standards and their equipment is more advanced.

We have to implement national standards at every step according to the law. Residents and builders must comply strictly with national laws and norms to avoid hidden fire risks, or eliminate those risks in time.

GT: Has China's firefighting capacity improved in recent years? High-rise buildings are very common in other countries and regions, such as Japan and Hong Kong. In terms of firefighting capacity, what is the gap between China and these countries and regions?

Chen: Despite the progress made to date, there is still a gap between China and developed countries.

First, the infrastructure in China is not good enough. There should be one fire station in each 4-7 square-kilometer block.

However, in metropolises like Shanghai and Beijing, because of the high cost of land, not enough fire stations have been built. Urban reconstruction over the last two years has provided an opportunity to build some fire stations but there are still far too few.

In addition, there is a gap between China and some countries in construction standards. When I visited subway control rooms in Japan, I noticed that communication, ventilation and oxygen supplies for the fire brigade are kept separate. The oxygen supply can last for an hour.

In other words, if there is a subway fire, firefighting can be done inside the subway. Our equipment has not reached this level. There are no official norms for this in China.