LookAtVietnam – A shortage of fire hydrants in the capital is hindering efforts by firefighters to put out fires, according to Ha Noi’s firefighters.

A fire at Giap Bat Railway station in Ha Noi two months ago. A shortage of fire hydrants is restricting firefighters’ efforts to put fires out.

More than 160 fires have taken place in the capital so far this year, with 30 people losing their lives. The fires caused damage worth VND20.2 billion (US$1.1 million), which according to Thieu is a staggering 91 per cent rise over fire damage during the same period last year.

Thieu said an example of a fire that took too long to put out was last month’s blaze at the large Ha Noi Seacooking Export and Import Jointstock Company premises in Thanh Xuan district.

“That fire took a day and a half to put out due to a lack of fire hydrants,” said Thieu.

“The company itself did not have any water supplies to fight fires, and there were no hydrants in the surrounding neighbourhood.

“Firefighters had to pump water from other areas and call on more than 10 water tank trucks from the Thanh Cong Environment and Urban Company.”

According to international standards, every 15km of urban roads should be equipped with 100 fire hydrants. However, in the urban areas of Viet Nam, fire hydrants fall far short of demand. Their numbers only meet 3 to 5 per cent of the international standard.

“With almost 500km of roads in the inner city, Ha Noi should have more than 5,000 fire hydrant, but there are only 472 hydrants in the entire city,” said Thieu.

None at all

Many busy streets filled with shops and living quarters such as Hai Ba Trung, Trang Thi, Ly Thuong Kiet, Tran Hung Dao, Hang Chieu, Hang Ngang and Hang Dao streets have no fire hydrants.

Nguyen Le Cuong, who lives on Thai Ha Street, said he remembered firefighters were unable to find a hydrant when they arrived to put out a fire.

“Luckily, there was a swimming pool nearby so they pumped the water out of the pool to put out the fire,” said Cuong.

“I have no idea how fire fighting should operate, but I know that at the very least, they need to have enough supplies of water.”

Nguy Xuan Truong, deputy head of Phan Chu Trinh ward’s Fire-Fighting and Prevention Unit, said the lack of hydrants had a major impact on the way firefighters operated.

The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Construction recently published a circular on supplying water for firefighters in cities.

The circular states that localities in co-operation with local fire-fighting departments are responsible for defining water sources for fire fighting. They should also draft plans to improve water supplies for fire fighting in their areas.

The circular also regulates that developers of new urban and industrial areas must draft and submit plans on water systems for fire fighting to local authorities.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News