"There is no bowl left to eat rice"

That was the story of Mr. Luu Van Loi, in Hamlet 4, Vinh Trung Commune, Vi Thuy District, when he told reporters about the fire in his house that happened more than 20 days ago.

Mr. Loi's house burned down due to an electrical short circuit.

Specifically, at around 7:00 p.m. on March 16, after finishing dinner, the couple went to a neighbor's house to do some business. About 30 minutes later, a relative informed them that their house was on fire.

Because the house was made of thatched walls, the fire spread quickly and in a short time almost the entire house was burned down, clothes and furniture in the house turned to ashes, and surrounding plants were scorched. According to Mr. Loi, the cause of the fire was an electrical short circuit.

Mr. Loi added that the house that burned down was a charity house that the local government had built for his father about 15 years ago. A few years ago, his father passed away and left it for him to live in; the electrical wiring had been installed since the house was built. “I didn’t pay much attention to checking the wiring, thinking that once installed, it would be permanent, but I didn’t expect that an electrical short circuit would burn it all down,” Mr. Loi said.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chi, in Trau Hoi A hamlet, Thanh Xuan commune, Chau Thanh A district, also just experienced a terrifying moment when his house was completely burned down.

Mr. Chi said that on the morning of March 9, he went to see a doctor, his youngest daughter went to school, and his wife and eldest son went to work. At around 11 o'clock that same day, on the way back from the doctor's appointment, a neighbor called to inform him that his house was on fire. When he got home, he found the house with thatched walls and a corrugated iron roof completely burned down, also caused by an electrical short circuit.

“The electrical wiring in my family’s house has been used for more than 10 years, so we thought it was still good quality, so we didn’t replace it. It was also strung up in the wall and rarely checked. When I left the house, I didn’t turn off the main circuit breaker because I was afraid the refrigerator would break, but I didn’t expect an electrical short circuit to burn down the house,” Mr. Chi added.

These are two houses that were completely burned down by electrical short circuits that occurred in the province since the beginning of the year, both in rural areas. There are many reasons for these fires, but mainly due to the subjectivity of households in connecting electricity; lack of attention and checking of electrical wires; using large power consuming devices at the same time...

According to the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Department of the Provincial Police, every year the unit always proactively coordinates with functional agencies and localities to implement many measures to prevent fires and explosions in the area. In particular, it focuses on propagating and disseminating knowledge about fire prevention and fighting to agencies, enterprises, companies, markets, production and business establishments, schools and households; regularly organizing many training sessions and fire fighting drills, helping to promote the effectiveness and experience of fire fighting for on-site fire fighting forces, at the same time, raising awareness of prevention for everyone.

However, in rural areas, fire prevention and fighting work has only stopped at the level of propaganda and mobilizing people to be vigilant and prevent; most households are not fully equipped with fire prevention and fighting equipment, including fire extinguishers; many households do not pay attention to the electrical system in the house, do not clearly understand the necessary operations when extinguishing a fire or basic knowledge about fire prevention.

Every fire has both objective and subjective causes, but the indifference and subjectivity of households is still the main cause.

Lieutenant Colonel Le Hung Cuong, Head of the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Department, recommends that to prevent fires caused by electrical short circuits, people need to regularly check and maintain electrical systems and electrical equipment to detect and fix any limitations or damage. Each family, especially those with the elderly and children, needs to proactively come up with multiple escape plans in case of a fire; open a second suitable escape route; and equip the house with at least one fire extinguisher.

“When a fire breaks out, people should stay calm and find a suitable way to handle it, alert everyone in the house so they can quickly move out. When moving through areas with smoke and fire, use a blanket or soft towel soaked in water to cover your face and body to prevent burns,” Colonel Cuong further advised.

Through recent fires, it has been shown that raising fire prevention awareness of each person is always the most important thing to prevent "fire washing". Because fire and explosion always lurk in every house and once it occurs, it will spread quickly, with unpredictable consequences. Each person, each family needs to proactively pay attention, check electrical equipment in the family and equip themselves with basic knowledge about fire extinguishing to avoid damage caused by fire.

Fire spread rate of thatched houses, wooden houses, wall houses...

With thatched houses, the fire spreads at a rate of 6-8m/minute. Thatched houses are usually no longer than 30m long, so if the thatched house catches fire and is only 5km away from a professional firefighting force, it will be difficult to put out. Because from the time the fire is discovered, the people notify the firefighting force, then the firefighting force sends officers, soldiers, and vehicles to the scene, it takes about 15 minutes, so it is difficult to put out in time.

For houses with walls or wooden frames, fire spreads 3-4m/minute, but there is a problem with semi-permanent houses, so when sleeping, the homeowner can lock many locks, leading to many difficulties in the escape process.

The factory has many flammable materials such as paper, fabric, wood. When burning for 15-20 minutes, the fire will release heat from 500-800 ⁰ C, while this facility can only withstand heat of 550 ⁰ C, so the columns, rafters, and steel beams are soft, leading to complete collapse.

For gas stations, the time when there is the highest risk of fire is when goods are loaded. Because when loading, the amount of goods in the tank will have the same amount of gasoline vapor escaping. If customers or employees are smoking nearby at that time, it will easily lead to fire and explosion. The speed of gasoline spreading is 20m/s, when burning, it releases heat from 1,000-1,050 ⁰ C, so the damage is very serious...

Article and photos: NHAT TAN

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