Hanoi People's Committee has asked the Ministry of Construction to check fire safety threats on 17 apartment buildings in the area.

A fire at CT4 La Xa apartment building in 2015

Hanoi has about 1,075 apartment buildings and high-rises. Many of them have upgraded and installed fire protection system under the city's directives.

However, there 17 buildings are unable to meet fire prevention standards. Some of them are located in alleyways that are too small for fire trucks or lack spaces to install smoke extractors.

According to the municipal authorities, investors had low fire safety awareness, but this had improved since 2011. In addition, official agencies had been far too lax on enforcing basic fire safety measures.

Hanoi Fire Department and the Department of Construction were asked to find solutions. Hanoi authorities suggested replacing regular doors with automatic fire-resistant doors at corridors and install booster pumps systems. The rubbish collection and conveyance system must be made from incombustible materials and the doors must be kept shut.

The move was made after 13 people were killed and 60 others were injured in an apartment fire in HCM City. Many of the residents said the fire alarm system had been broken since 2016 and the fire sprinkler system didn’t work. The fire was only noticed when the smoke and heat reached the 14th floor.

Nguyen Thanh Huong, Deputy Head of the municipal fire department, said that the fire-resistant door which could have helped prevent smoke from the basement reaching other floors had been deliberately kept open, causing the smoke to spread quickly.

Dtinews