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As fire supervisors, their work appears calm compared to the rescue workers at the scene of a smoke filled and dangerous fire, but it is these mundane tasks that are related to the safety of thousands of households.
In fire safety work, fire supervisors play an important role. Let’s approach several fire supervisors in the fire rescue team in Guizhou Province and listen to them talk about their daily work.
Yuan Kaiwei: The responsibility for fire safety in the ancient town is significant
I was transferred to the Fire Rescue Brigade of Huaxi District, Guiyang City in 2020. After arriving, I took on the fire supervision work in the key area of Qingyan Ancient Town. Unlike other areas in terms of fire prevention supervision, Qingyan Ancient Town, as one of the four major ancient towns in Guizhou Province, has mostly brick and wood structures in its buildings. Once a fire occurs, the consequences are unimaginable; There are also Zhao Zhuangyuan Mansion, Mr. Pinggang’s former residence, and the Red Army Long March Command Headquarters in the ancient town, all of which have certain historical, cultural, and scientific value. Strengthening fire safety management is particularly important, and I deeply feel the great responsibility.
There are over a thousand merchants and residents in the ancient town, and the annual reception of tourists during small and long holidays is around 30000 people.
Since you have taken on the task, let’s face the difficulties and move forward. In the early stage, in order to fully grasp the fire safety situation of Qingyan Ancient Town, I had to go to the town every day to explore the layout and quantity of fire protection facilities, as well as the views of merchants on fire safety work.
There are over 300 commercial shops in the ancient town, mainly engaged in catering, local specialties, handicrafts, and hotels. There is no dedicated gas pipeline here, especially for the catering shops, which mostly use liquefied gas. At that time, there was still a phenomenon of using first generation liquefied gas cylinders in the store, and some even did not register for use according to regulations, some exceeded the inspection period or had reached the scrapping period, posing significant safety hazards.
Fortunately, the fire protection work in the town has a good foundation, and it is not difficult to contact merchants. However, whenever they talk about the fire hazards of liquefied gas cylinders, they think they need to issue a fine and intentionally shift the topic. Some people keep complaining that it is difficult to do business now, and small businesses have no profit. If they continue to do this and that, they may have to resort to a different approach. Some people also say that they have been living this way for so many years, and nothing has happened.
I have no choice but to do my homework secretly. Collect relevant case videos of severe economic losses and store them on their mobile phones for them to watch. Sometimes, they push their business around and don’t even go to see it, which makes me feel embarrassed. But I don’t give up, I still often go to their store and even give a hand when business is busy. After coming and going, they became familiar with each other, and they listened to some of my words.
Later, it caught up with the promotion of shared safety gas cylinders throughout the province. This type of gas cylinder has an exclusive “identity” that can be traced and monitored in real-time, which can completely solve the fire hazards caused by liquefied gas cylinders in the town. So, my colleagues and I went to the town every day to talk about the benefits of this matter and mobilize the merchants and residents of the ancient town to replace shared safety gas cylinders. From mobilization to complete replacement, although there were some twists and turns, everyone eventually replaced the gas cylinders properly. I feel a lot more at ease in my heart, and I feel that the previous hard work has not been in vain.
In recent years, the party committees and governments at all levels of the province, city, and district have attached great importance to the fire safety of Qingyan Ancient Town, and have made great efforts in civil defense, physical defense, and technical defense. Various fire safety propaganda has also been in place, and the fire safety awareness of merchants and residents is constantly increasing.
Now, as I step into the ancient town, merchants and residents greet me like old friends, inviting me to sit in the store and take a look at the fire safety situation.
At present, Qingyan Ancient Town has also launched a “ten household joint defense”. If an emergency occurs, the joint defense chief can convene everyone to handle it urgently. Moreover, now all key commercial (residential) households in Qingyan Ancient Town have installed smoke detectors and sprinkler systems, connected to the “smart fire” system, which gives me more confidence in my heart. If there is any abnormality in any place, a warning will be issued, and we can receive messages and calls as soon as possible, which also saves us supervisors the need to run away. But firefighting work cannot be saved at all, and the string of firefighting safety must always be tight.
Wu Kaiyi: Difficulty in Sleeping and Eating for Fire Safety in Mining Areas
I came to work in the fire department in 2012 and worked as a fire safety supervisor at the Zhongshan Fire Rescue Brigade in Liupanshui City in 2017.
Liupanshui, like cities like Panzhihua, was born in the process of “third line construction” and is a witness to the times. Most people may not know that Liupanshui City is the only prefecture level city in China with three mining bureaus. Among them, the Dahebian coal mine was completed and put into operation in 1970. And the residential area here was also built at that time. The first time I went to the Dahebian coal mine, what I saw surprised me: the mining area was surrounded by wooden felt houses, and the roofs were covered with felt, densely connected in layers.
Only by delving deeper into it did I realize that not only are the houses connected, but there is also no fire separation, low fire resistance rating, and no fire water source nearby. After visiting the area, I learned that the old employees and family members of the mining area who live here have been here for decades and have a deep affection for it. However, there are many fire hazards here, and fires can occur at any time. Most of the residents are elderly people with weak safety awareness and weak self-protection awareness. If a dangerous situation occurs, it is easy to cause casualties.
To be honest, at that time, I felt very uncomfortable in my heart. I have been thinking about how to help the residents here eliminate fire hazards? During that time, I struggled to sleep and eat for the fire safety here every day. Due to excessive anxiety, my hair kept falling off and even went bald.
Afterwards, I became a regular here. I visit various places to understand the actual situation of each household, point out existing safety hazards, and promote fire safety knowledge. However, some people do not welcome me and feel that my arrival is “not good”, disturbing their lives and refusing to communicate.
In order to get closer to everyone, I brought some small gifts from the team’s activities and shared them with everyone, chatting with them heart to heart. Slowly, they began to be willing to communicate with me and gradually became aware of the safety hazards in their living environment.
Later, most of the residents moved to other areas with better conditions, and some still live here. In order to ensure the safety of these residents, my colleagues and I not only strengthened publicity, but also communicated with the local government to obtain some funds, renovated the circuits of each household, and equipped them with household fire extinguishing equipment and installed smoke detectors, just in case.
Now, watching everyone move away, those who have not yet moved have a certain level of safety protection, and fire prevention awareness is constantly increasing. My hair has grown again and gradually regained its vitality.
Chen Jie: Liquor companies need “understanding people” for fire safety
In 2016, I started working as a fire safety supervisor. However, it is a different “experience” to be a fire supervisor in the Baijiu industry in Renhuai City, Zunyi City. Because to do a good job in fire safety of Baijiu industry, we must understand Baijiu.
Renhuai City is the hometown of famous Maotai liquor both domestically and internationally, and is known as the “Chinese liquor capital”. Baijiu enterprises are concentrated here, with more than 2000 large, medium and small liquor enterprises. And fire safety management has always been a difficult point, which is a significant challenge for fire supervisors.
Many people can drink, but few people know how Baijiu is produced. The production of Baijiu involves six major links, namely starter making, liquor making, storage, blending, inspection and packaging, 30 processes and 165 process links, each of which has certain potential safety hazards. I didn’t know much about the production of Baijiu. But since I am a fire supervisor in the field of Baijiu industry, I must know the production process and flow of Baijiu.
When I first started working here, I often went to liquor companies to learn and consult with personnel engaged in related work. During that time, I was a bit obsessed with this, and my colleagues and family were afraid that I would be unable to extricate myself. Of course, this was just a joke. After meticulously recording several notebooks, I finally understood the various processes and procedures of brewing.
Afterwards, I began to analyze the potential safety hazards that liquor companies may face in different production processes. Important departments such as wine storage, packaging material storage, and packaging storage workshops are key areas with fire safety hazards. Every time I visit a wine company for inspection, I am particularly cautious and occasionally conduct special inspections. From the laying of wiring on production sites to the safety risk warning and control systems, detailed inspections and inquiries must be conducted wherever you go. Of course, I will also hear voices that I don’t understand. Some liquor companies may think that the problems I have identified or suggestions I have put forward are nitpicking.
But it is my responsibility and obligation to ensure safety production and fire safety in accordance with the law, regulations, and standards. Over time, they also understood my work and gradually cooperated.
Not long ago, our brigade organized a fire safety training for the leaders and safety administrators of the liquor company. There were no empty seats in the audience, and they not only listened attentively and memorized carefully, but also consulted me with problems found in their work.
This year, while the province is conducting a major fire safety inspection, I am constantly thinking about some new work methods. At present, we are building 10 benchmark liquor companies for fire safety management, hoping to use the demonstration and leading role of these 10 liquor companies to make more liquor companies become benchmarks for fire safety.
I haven’t been home for a long time to push this work forward. Every day, I travel between liquor companies, third-party fire technology service agencies, and various fire safety training programs for liquor companies. I am not afraid of hardship or fatigue. I hope that all liquor company managers and staff are “knowledgeable” about fire safety. I hope that all liquor companies can produce safely and operate smoothly, which realizes my value as a fire safety supervisor.
Yan Zhi: Village Fire Prevention and Control Needs “Targeted Medicine”
I was transferred from the Fire Rescue Detachment of Qiannan Prefecture to the Fire Rescue Brigade of Sandu Shui Autonomous County, and it was not a long time.
As is well known, Sandu Autonomous County is the only water ethnic autonomous county in China, known as a “place as beautiful as phoenix feathers”. But what you may not know is that Sandu Autonomous County has 51 traditional villages and 92 ethnic minority characteristic villages, which are places where the task of rural fire prevention and control in our local area is very heavy.
Located between the mountains at the watershed of the Duliu River and the upper reaches of the Longjiang River, Qianlei Village has a history of over 300 years and is inhabited by both the Shui and Miao ethnic groups, with the Shui ethnic group accounting for 65%. Most villagers have been living by the mountains for generations, with thousands of households connected. The habit of burning and cooking in wooden houses and stacking firewood in the corners has been preserved, which poses a significant fire hazard.
When I first became a fire safety supervisor and visited the village, I always thought that since these traditional habits of burning firewood and cooking are difficult to change, we need to use practical and feasible methods to reduce existing risks, enhance the safety awareness of the people, and take preventive measures to reduce some risks.
However, most of the local aquatic people do not understand Chinese, nor do they understand fire safety slogans written in Chinese.
Faced with this situation, I am in a hurry and have no choice. Fortunately, I have been working in publicity for many years and still have some experience. I noticed that the people here love to sing water songs. During the Dragon Boat Festival in October every year, the local water people dress in ethnic costumes and express their blessings with melodious water songs.
I think this is a good time to promote fire safety knowledge, so I found someone to compile rural fire prevention knowledge into a rhyme, and then translated it into a water song by local people to teach villagers how to sing. At the same time, I also burned more than 10 fire “water songs” and “water language” versions of fire promotion videos into CDs and distributed them to various villages. The innovative form of promotion was welcomed by the villagers.
Nowadays, during the Duan Festival, villagers sing the “Fire” water song, which has become a characteristic of Xunlei Village and even other villages. Listening to the pleasant singing conveying fire safety knowledge, I feel incredibly happy in my heart. The safety awareness of the villagers has been enhanced, and so far, there have been no incidents of fire burning camps or “small fire fatalities”, and the rural fire safety situation is stable.
Of course, in my work, in addition to promoting from household to person, I also explored the work mechanism of responsibility from household to person, inspection from household to person, warning from household to person, and practicing from household to person. My ultimate goal is to achieve full coverage and no blind spots, do a good job in village fire prevention and control, protect history, and inherit culture.
The daily work of these fire supervisors can be said to be a microcosm of the work of national fire supervisors. They shuttle between streets, communities, and key units every day, using a pair of “iron foot boards” to traverse the streets and alleys of their jurisdiction, carrying out fire prevention and control work day after day, guarding everyone’s beautiful home.