Living in cramped mini apartments without fire protection equipment in Hanoi

Mini apartments are springing up close together in large and small alleys in Hanoi.

Many opinions say that the fact that mini apartments are competing to "sprout" in small alleys, small intersections, and densely interwoven with high-rise buildings is pushing the danger of fire towards tenants.

Fear of fire and explosion

Immediately after the terrible fire that occurred in the early morning of September 13 at a mini apartment building located deep in alley 29 Khuong Ha (Khuong Dinh ward, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi), many residents living in other mini apartments felt confused and worried about their own safety.

Weaving through a small, winding alley on Trung Kinh Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi, Mr. Manh Tuan (from Nghe An) led the reporter to the mini apartment building where he rented a room. Observing the road that goes deep into the street about 3 km from the road surface, the width is only enough for two motorbikes to move, even if he wants to turn around, it is difficult, Mr. Tuan said with concern: " If a fire accident happens now, I don't know how the rescue will be through this terrain, when the entrance is too far and narrow, I am really worried.

I know that and although there is no shortage of mini apartments now, with affordable prices, they are mainly located deep in alleys like this. For many reasons, I have to rent, but I feel worried every day. Maybe after the tragic fire in Khuong Dinh, I have to find another place to live that is more airy, spacious and safe .

Mini apartments are built close together in a narrow alley on Trieu Khuc Street (Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi). (Photo: Cong Hieu)

Pointing to the mini apartment buildings close together, densely interwoven, Mr. Tuan complained that the neighborhood is becoming increasingly stuffy, cramped, crowded and noisy, increasing the risk of insecurity for residents.

" Imagine, with large apartment buildings, although there are many residents, they have large spaces, the control is also more systematic and strict, the facilities and infrastructure are complete. As for mini apartments, there is only a scene of crowded land, cramped space, and no management board or professional residential management department. Usually there are only a few security guards, or even none in some places, people look at each other and live, if there is anything that cannot be resolved, they report to the investor. How can we protect the safety of tenants like that?

The more people living in a cramped space, the higher the risk of unsafety. For example, just one person's careless actions can cause unpredictable consequences for the whole community, " added Mr. Tuan.

Ms. Thu Ha (32 years old, living in a mini apartment on Trieu Khuc street, Thanh Xuan district) said: “ In this area, there are many mini apartment buildings, each building has dozens of apartments, but the infrastructure for fire prevention and fighting (PCCC) is very rudimentary, in many places there is no infrastructure. Almost all landlords just do it hastily, while tenants do not pay much attention to this issue .”

The mini apartment that Ms. Ha rents is newly built, quite spacious, clean, has an elevator, and is fully equipped inside the apartment, but each floor only has one or two mini fire extinguishers, which residents jokingly call "decorations" for the sake of validity. " If there is an unfortunate risk of fire or explosion, this small number of fire extinguishers will certainly not be enough. We always have to remind each other to be more careful and aware in our daily lives. However, it is still a concern that we worry about every day.

After the recent fire incident at the mini apartment building in lane 29 Khuong Ha, we will definitely have to make stronger demands for the investor to equip more fire prevention and fighting equipment ," said Ms. Ha.

...just sketchy in mini apartment buildings. (Photo: Thao Nguyen)

Also sharing this concern, Ms. Tran Huong, who lives in a mini apartment building in Khuong Trung area (Thanh Xuan district) informed that each floor of the mini apartment building where she lives has a fire extinguisher. Each box has two large fire extinguishers equipped to prevent fires. However, residents here have never been trained on how to use them. Not to mention, the building is located at the end of an alley, extremely cramped. If an incident occurs, rescue will be very difficult.

“ Before, the house had security guards, who kept the door open 24/7. Now, to save money, the homeowner no longer hires security guards and instead uses a fingerprint door lock. The door is now only wide enough for a motorbike to pass through. If a fire breaks out, it will be difficult for everyone in the house to rush out in panic, let alone outsiders to help put out the fire ,” Ms. Huong worried.

Narrow alleys that are barely wide enough for a car to pass through are carrying many crowded mini-apartments. (Photo: Cong Hieu)

Ms. Huong also pointed to the "tiger cages" in the nearby mini apartment building and said that the practice of expanding to take advantage of space is being applied by many mini apartments. This causes insecurity for the people living there and the surrounding households.

In the role of a mini-apartment tenant, the reporter asked many real estate brokers and learned that most mini-apartment investors have not paid attention to fire prevention and fighting for the apartments. If they have equipment, it is very rudimentary and no one controls this. Meanwhile, tenants are more concerned with the price and facilities inside the apartment, for example, is the apartment spacious or not, is it fully equipped with household appliances...

Mini apartment fires continue to occur

In the early morning of September 13, a serious fire broke out at a 10-storey house at No. 37 in Lane 29/70, Khuong Ha Street (Khuong Dinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi). This is a 10-storey house with about 45 rooms, mainly for families and students; including: 1 basement for parking, 8 floors of apartments and 1 attic. Each apartment floor at Khuong Ha mini apartment building is designed with 5 apartments. The apartment area ranges from 35 - 56m2.

Hundreds of fire police and rescue workers had a hard time on duty because the house on fire was located deep in the alley, making rescue work difficult.

By 5:00 a.m. on September 13, according to preliminary statistics, Hanoi authorities had successfully rescued over 70 people and taken 54 people to the emergency room, including one who died.

Previously, in March this year, also in Khuong Dinh ward, Thanh Xuan district, a fire broke out in a mini apartment building at 315 Vu Tong Phan, forcing more than 170 people living in the building to flee.

According to many residents, this apartment building was built a long time ago as a mixed-use building and when completed, the investor sold each apartment to those in need, however, the mezzanine floor was still managed by the investor. At the time of the fire, the mezzanine floor was rented out for food and beverage business despite strong objections from more than 170 residents living there.

Mini apartments are springing up more and more but few people care about fire prevention issues. (Photo: Cong Hieu)

In May 2023, a fire also broke out on the 3rd floor of a mini apartment building in lane 20, lane 426 Duong Lang (Dong Da district), causing many residents to flee. The initial cause of the fire was an electrical short circuit in the water heater.

At the end of October 2022, a fire broke out at a mini apartment building in lane 132 Cau Giay (Cau Giay district) forcing authorities to dispatch 4 fire trucks and more than 20 officers and soldiers to the scene to put out the fire and rescue 11 people.

Also in Cau Giay district, in November 2019, many residents on Trung Kinh street were shocked to see large amounts of smoke and fire rising from the 8th floor of a mini apartment building. At that time, the fire flared up fiercely and then showed signs of spreading to neighboring buildings.

Dao Bich - Cong Hieu

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