How safe is a mini apartment?

"Tongue-tied" trying to stay to save

After the fire at the 9-storey mini apartment building at No. 37, Lane 29/70 Khuong Ha (Khuong Dinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi) on the evening of September 12, which killed 56 people and injured 42 others, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quang (33 years old, from Chuong My District, Hanoi) was startled to check the entrance, exit, emergency exit, alleys, and side streets around the 6-storey mini apartment building at Me Tri Thuong Lane (Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi), where the couple had moved for more than 7 months.

According to Mr. Quang, this mini apartment building is built in a tube shape with 3 closed sides, with only one entrance and exit, the main door. Because each apartment does not have its own balcony, residents' clothes will be dried on the terrace, which is surrounded by a tiger cage-like iron frame, with a tightly closed corrugated iron roof to prevent theft.

Mr. Quang said that both his wife and he work in an office in the center of Hanoi. Recently, his wife got pregnant so they decided to rent a room for convenience in going to work and resting. With the total income of the couple being just over 20 million VND/month and no savings, buying an apartment worth several billion VND in an inner-city district is a luxury. When looking for a room, Mr. Quang and his wife did not care about fire safety or a second escape route. "In a place where cars cannot enter and the deeper it is in the alley, the cheaper the room or apartment will be to rent. Saving money is always a good thing, so we decided to rent a room with an area of ​​nearly 20 square ^meters , with a private bathroom for 3.5 million VND/month," Mr. Quang said.

Two 7-storey mini apartments located in the dead-end alley at 12/61, Chinh Kinh Street (Nhan Chinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi)

After the fire, Mr. Quang was startled to realize that the couple was living in a mini apartment building identical to the one that burned down in Thanh Xuan District. In case of an incident on the first floor, the only way out for residents would be to run to the rooftop and wait for help or climb down with a rope. Knowing that it was dangerous, but to save money, the couple had to "bite the bullet" and try to stay.

"I hope the government will soon invest in social housing areas and then rent or rent-purchase at a subsidized price of about 4-5 million VND/month. I think this price is suitable for most young couples with limited economic conditions like me," said Mr. Quang.

There is also a market for construction and rental of mini apartments.

Sharing with Thanh Nien , a woman working in the front committee of the residential group in Nhan Chinh Ward (Thanh Xuan District) said that many alleys in the ward are the "capital" of mini apartments. In the dead-end alley No. 12/61, Chinh Kinh Street alone, there are 3 mini apartments with a total of 42 apartments, with more than 100 people living there.

For apartments built a few years ago, investors have sold them for between 600 million VND and 1 billion VND per apartment. Most of the people who buy apartments in mini apartments are low-income people or young couples. Students only rent rooms and live together. "When checking fire safety, the most feared thing is the stairs or elevators because they are small and narrow. Meanwhile, most of the windows are covered with iron cages. If there is a fire, there is no way to escape," the woman added.

9-storey apartment building at the end of alley 29/42, Khuong Ha street (Thanh Xuan district)

Black smoke surrounds the ventilation holes on each floor after a terrible fire at a mini apartment building at address 37, lane 29/70 Khuong Ha (Thanh Xuan District)

According to Thanh Nien 's records in districts of Hanoi such as Thanh Xuan, Cau Giay, Nam Tu Liem, Bac Tu Liem, Hai Ba Trung, Hoang Mai..., it is not difficult to find mini apartments located in deep alleys, only accessible by motorbike, with a scale of 5 - 10 floors, interspersed with residential areas. Inside, the first floor is usually a parking lot, security room. From the second floor up are small apartments, less than 30 m2 but fully functional: kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room...

Notably, the rooms do not have balconies or loggias, but only windows with steel bars. Very few mini apartments have a second exit, usually there is only an elevator or stairs to move from the first floor to the top floor. The common rental price is from 3 to 6 million VND/apartment, the residents are usually students, workers, young couples... When asked about fire safety and exits, most shook their heads, showing that they were not interested.

Two 7-storey mini apartments are located in a dead-end alley at 12/61 Chinh Kinh Street (Nhan Chinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi), an alley that can only accommodate 2 motorbikes.

A long-time mini apartment broker in Thanh Xuan District, Ms. Nguyen Thu Lan (30 years old), said that in Hanoi as well as many other large cities, a market for building, transferring, and renting mini apartments has been formed for many years. Many investors choose land plots in alleys to build in order to minimize investment costs. Because current regulations do not require individual houses to have a second exit, most of the transformed mini apartments will be built with a tight area.

"After the fire, there are no regulations on a second escape route for this type of concentrated housing, so most investors will not invest in additional fire escape systems. Partly because the land area has been built up, partly because the cost will increase, and it does not ensure security and order for apartment tenants," said Ms. Lan.

There are no standards for mini apartments.

A representative of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment (Ministry of Construction) said that mini apartments are not yet included in the standards and regulations for apartment buildings. However, these buildings are designed, built and used with all the characteristics of apartment buildings: stairs, elevators, common corridors, common property, private property, etc. Therefore, mini apartments or multi-storey, multi-apartment housing must be designed for fire safety and rescue according to apartment building regulations.

For example, the mini apartment building that caught fire in Thanh Xuan District, according to Decree 79 and Decree 36 guiding the Fire Prevention and Fighting Law, is subject to fire prevention and fighting approval. In addition, the stairs of this building must be placed in a closed elevator shaft, ensuring that smoke and fire do not penetrate to ensure the safety of residents in case of an incident. To improve fire safety in mini apartment buildings, in case it is not possible to install a second emergency staircase outside, a fireproof wall must be installed and built for the stairs inside the building.

However, after inspection, the mini apartment building that caught fire in Thanh Xuan District had many factors that did not ensure fire safety. The construction permit granted to the investor of the mini apartment building that just caught fire was a permit to build a 6-storey, 1-attic single-family house with a construction density of 70%, but the investor built 9 floors, 1-attic with a construction density of 100%. Having a skylight in the mini apartment building that just caught fire is also very dangerous, when the fire breaks out, smoke rises quickly.

A representative of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment also said that according to a preliminary report from Hanoi, there are more than 300 mini apartments in use in the area, but this is not a complete statistic. For people living in mini apartments, they need to proactively equip themselves with rope ladders, anti-toxic smoke masks, and specialized escape tools to prevent incidents.

Da Nang expands inspection of accommodation establishments

Colonel Phan Van Dung, Deputy Director of Da Nang City Police, said that after the Central and local authorities directed the review of fire safety issues, Da Nang City Police advised the Da Nang City People's Committee to have a master plan on inspecting similar types of mini apartments.

"The city-level inspection plan will review not only state-owned apartments but also private investors and houses converted into accommodation facilities. In addition, Da Nang City Police will continue to direct units and localities to expand propaganda models and quick response to fire prevention and fighting such as inter-family teams and equipping facilities with fire extinguishers," said Colonel Phan Van Dung.

Nguyen Tu

Need to prioritize fire prevention and fighting planning budget from ward level

A leader of the Ministry of Construction said that the ministry has repeatedly warned and requested to strengthen control of construction order for individual houses with multi-storey designs and many apartments transformed into mini apartments. Most recently, in June 2020, the Ministry of Construction sent a document to the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities stating the current situation in some localities and urban areas where households and individuals have taken advantage of the lax management of functional agencies to arbitrarily build individual houses with many floors and many apartments without complying with legal regulations such as: unlicensed construction, illegal construction, construction against planning, encroachment on space, subdivision of apartments, arbitrarily adding floors... and then freely buying, selling and transferring.

This leads to many consequences such as: violating fire prevention regulations; overloading of technical infrastructure and social infrastructure systems; failure to issue ownership certificates to apartment buyers due to violations of design and construction density, leading to disputes and lawsuits. Increasing population density in these areas will cause traffic congestion, not ensure environmental sanitation, affect local security and order, disrupt planning, and ruin the beauty and design of the city.

The Ministry of Construction also requested that localities strengthen inspection, examination, detection and strict handling of violations of construction order laws in the area, especially in the construction of individual houses with many floors and many apartments...

Mr. Bui Trung Dung, former Director of the Department of Construction Management (Ministry of Construction), said that to improve the safety coefficient for houses in large cities, including Hanoi, it is necessary to prioritize budget resources to build and implement fire prevention and fighting plans from the ward and residential group levels.

Issues that need to be studied and implemented immediately include the arrangement of fire hydrants in alleys and lanes that fire trucks cannot enter. Pilot implementation and then summarize and evaluate the expansion of narrow alleys and lanes under 3.5 m to over 4 m so that fire trucks and rescue vehicles can access the scene. If the results are good, there should be a project to expand the implementation to the whole city, even on a larger scale.

General Secretary requests strict handling of violations in Hanoi mini apartment fire

On September 14, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sent a letter of condolences to the Party Committee, government and people of Hanoi City about the fire that occurred at a mini apartment building in Khuong Dinh (Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi) on the evening of September 12.

In the letter, the General Secretary said he was very saddened to hear that on the evening of September 12, a fire broke out at a multi-apartment house at No. 37, Lane 29/70, Khuong Ha Street, causing extremely serious consequences, killing and injuring many people. "On behalf of the Party and State leaders, I would like to express my deep sympathy, share the loss and pain, and send condolences to the families of the victims," ​​the General Secretary wrote in the letter.

The General Secretary also welcomed and commended the functional forces, along with the people and local authorities of Thanh Xuan District for their prompt rescue and relief efforts, minimizing human and property losses. The General Secretary requested all sectors and levels to promptly overcome the consequences, give priority to treating the injured, and have timely policies to help the families of the victims, and soon stabilize the situation to ensure the lives of the people.

The General Secretary also requested Hanoi to seriously review and learn from this incident; request the relevant authorities to investigate and clarify the responsibilities of relevant organizations and individuals and strictly handle violations in accordance with the law. At the same time, he requested the Prime Minister to direct the strengthening of fire prevention and fighting work nationwide, provide guidance and widely disseminate information on mass media so that people can raise their vigilance and respond promptly to prevent fires and explosions.

Le Hiep

Don't do it like "cover up any leaks"

Mr. Ta Van Ha, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, commented: In 2019, the National Assembly conducted supreme supervision on fire prevention and fighting work and issued Resolution 99 of 2019 requiring improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of policies and laws on fire prevention and fighting. Implementing Resolution 99, the Government and ministries and branches have actively implemented and rectified many issues in fire prevention and fighting work; proposed new criteria and standards, and at the same time had positive solutions to minimize the number of fire and explosion incidents in recent times.

Although the authorities have been very active with strong measures, the number of fires and explosions in recent times has increased both in number and in damage to people and property. There have been particularly heartbreaking fires such as the mini apartment fire in Hanoi on the night of September 12.

Mr. Ha said that it is necessary to review and re-evaluate all stages from licensing, construction to fire prevention and fighting inspection at this apartment building. The authorities must sit down and evaluate what is not good or not right. At the same time, review the current policies on mini apartments to see if there are any "loopholes". If the license is wrong, they must take responsibility. Then there is the management, inspection, and control work... The responsibility of each person must be made clear and strict, because if they just speak in generalities, it will not be resolved.

"Every time there is a fire in a karaoke bar that causes great damage, we focus on strengthening inspection, review, and tightening karaoke management, but there is no comprehensive, synchronous, long-term solution to prevent and reduce damage caused by fire and explosion. That is, we work in a "cover-up-where-there-is-a-leak" manner, following the incident instead of being proactive, without a comprehensive, synchronous solution. To do this work better, in addition to strict regulations, there needs to be synchronization and coordination between functional agencies, local authorities, political and social organizations in monitoring and inspecting fire prevention and fighting to increase the effectiveness of prevention work. In addition, it is very necessary to improve people's skills and awareness of fire prevention and fighting, especially in places like apartment buildings," said Mr. Ha.

At the 26th meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the morning of September 13, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, Head of the Delegation Affairs Committee (National Assembly Standing Committee), expressed: "I propose to evaluate more carefully the causes and effectiveness of measures in fire and explosion prevention and control in the recent past. The authorities have issued many policies and measures on fire and explosion prevention and control, but the results have not been commensurate with the solutions and policies we have put forth. There were even times when fires occurred consecutively, creating a public opinion that the more we direct and raise, the more fires and bigger they are. It is necessary to find out the reasons why the number of violating establishments is still so high, as well as why fires and explosions occur consecutively."

Le Hiep

Ho Chi Minh City: General review of boarding houses, investigation of apartment buildings that are slow to fix fire prevention and fighting

Immediately after the mini apartment fire in Hanoi that killed and injured many people, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued an urgent dispatch requesting departments, branches and localities to strengthen fire safety and rescue work. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee assigned the police to coordinate with local authorities to urgently conduct a general inspection of fire safety conditions for boarding houses, rental houses, mini apartments... in the area. Based on the inspection results, localities will guide and recommend immediate implementation of remedial measures. In case of serious violations of fire safety regulations, the operation will be temporarily suspended, suspended and strictly handled according to the law. The general inspection must be completed before October 30.

On the afternoon of September 14, Lieutenant Colonel Le Manh Ha, Deputy Chief of Staff of Ho Chi Minh City Police, said that Ho Chi Minh City currently has 42,256 boarding houses and rental rooms under the state management of fire prevention and fighting and rescue. Through inspection, most boarding houses and rental rooms are equipped with and installed with fire prevention and fighting systems according to the law. However, rental apartments in general, family houses, and houses combined with businesses always have the potential to cause and spread fire.

"The most dangerous thing now is that high-rise rental buildings have parking garages and are not designed with fire protection systems and safety solutions in case of fire, which can easily cause fires that cause especially serious human damage when the parking garage catches fire," emphasized Lieutenant Colonel Ha.

Regarding the handling of apartment buildings that have not been inspected for fire prevention and fighting before they are put into use, Lieutenant Colonel Le Manh Ha said that Ho Chi Minh City Police will contact and coordinate with local authorities to take enforcement measures against the above-mentioned apartment buildings and investors who deliberately violate fire prevention and fighting laws for a long time. Police units and localities will consolidate records, and when there are signs of crime, they will transfer them to the police investigation agency for investigation and handling according to the provisions of law.

Phan Thu Hoai - Sy Dong

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/an-toan-the-nao-cho-chung-cu-mini-185230915012150701.htm