A press conference on the “119”, the emergency telephone number for firefighters in China, was held on November 8 in Guangzhou to raise citizens’ awareness of preventing fire cases.

November 9 is National Fire Prevention Day in China and November is thus a key month to spread more information about how to prevent fires and protect oneself in dangerous situations.

Guangzhou has seen no serious and fatal fire accidents for 21 years

Li Yongsheng, Political Commissar of Guangzhou fire rescue team, noted that Guangzhou had seen no serious and fatal fire accidents for 21 years successively, a rare achievement in first-tier cities.

The layout of fire forces in Guangzhou has been further optimized in the past three years.“We have established 22 fire stations and 31 more fire stations are being built, as well as added 311 new fire engines and ships, and bought 180,000 sets of fire-fighting equipment, with a 44% of equipment renewal rate,” Li explained.

In the past three years, Guangzhou fire rescue team has handled 116,000 fire-fighting, emergency rescue and social assistance cases, rescued and evacuated more than 25,000 people out of danger.

To raise the public awareness, Li said that they had organized 24,000 roadshows and training sessions, which had reached about3.5 million audiences.

Firemen in Humen at training (Photo/Nanfang Daily)

Every case is unforgettable to me

With 25 years’ working experience, Zhu Weiquan is an assistant to Acting Captain of Shiqiao Fire Rescue Station, Panyu District and was honored with the title of “Ten outstanding firemen in Guangzhou”. Zhu has been involved in more than 19,000 fire-fighting and social rescue cases and lifted over 8,000 citizens out of danger. When asked which case impressed him most, he answered, “Actually, every case is unforgettable to me, because it’s not just a case, but people’s lives.” 

As winter is coming and the weather is becoming less humid in Guangzhou, Liu Hongyang, a firefighter honored with the title of “Ten outstanding firemen in Guangzhou”, reminded citizens to close gas taps, switch off electricity and anything may trigger a fire before leaving home.

Reporter: Rofel