VietNamNet Bridge – A spate of fires in the ancient town of Hoi An is causing concern for citizens and local authorities. A project on fire fighting and prevention is looking for funding of VND240 billion.

A spate of fires in the ancient town of Hoi An is causing concern for citizens and local authorities. A project on fire fighting and prevention is looking for funding of VND240 billion.

Local authorities and relevant offices have tasked themselves with urgent fire prevention measures in the ancient town, which is a UNESCO-recognised world cultural asset in Viet Nam. 80 per cent of house in Hoi An are built using wood, with traditional methods dating from the 17th to 19th centuries.

The cause of two recent fires on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street was determined to have been electrical faults. Concerns over fires are widespread due to the characteristic old houses, and the possibility of blazes spreading quickly and causing huge amounts of damage.

Luckily, the recent fires occurred during the day and were discovered early, so little damage was caused, said Nguyen Van Son, deputy chairman of Hoi An People’s Committee.

“The danger of fire spreading is high in concentrated areas of adjacent old houses,” Son said.

According to the deputy chairman, Hoi An needs a fire warning system and fire prevention measures that deploy automatically, requirements that were mapped out as part of a project by the local people’s committee.

The fire prevention project, needing about VND240 billion of funding, was included in the master plan on world cultural asset preservation and development.

However, the city is still waiting on a source of funding.

The head of the Hoi An police office, Colonel Dinh Xuan Nghia, said the deployment of fire fighting police officers to the ancient streets was not easy.

“The fire fighting police office is located in Thanh Ha Ward. It takes us 20 minutes by truck to arrive at in the centre, where the ancient streets are located,” Nghia said.

“Due to the narrow streets, the large fire trucks are not able to enter, while the smaller ones are not equipped to deal with significant fires.” Recent fires at rented properties that were vacant have pushed local authorities to suggest the equipping of mini fire extinguishers.

The deputy chairman, Nguyen Van Son, said forgetting to turn off the power before closing a store was enough to cause a fire in an area where 90 to 100 per cent of houses facing the street are for business use, and are mainly made out of wood.

Since late 2011, the ancient streets have had a population density of 12,129 people per square kilometre. The water pipeline system serving the locations couldn’t meet the demand if a large fire occurred.

About the plan, Son said the local authorities will send teams to residential quarters to raise awareness of fire prevention and safety. Relevant offices will check electrical systems in residential and commercial properties, and set up a civil fire fighting force.

VNS