Firefighters burned by many minor calls

China needs to shake up the way its emergency services handle calls, as too much time is being spent on non-emergencies, rescue officials said.

Less than half of calls for Beijing firefighters are to blazes, according to Li Jin, deputy director of the capital's fire control.

Others assignments range from life-threatening incidents to far more frivolous uses of public money, such as searching for a lost pet or even car keys.

"It is our job to respond to disasters, earthquakes and traffic accidents, life-and-death matters," Li said. "But the reality is that half of our missions, or even more, are not emergencies."

A poll of about 3,000 people by his authority found 622 said they would dial 119 — the fire and rescue hotline — if they were locked out of their home.

"We want to serve the public, but such incidents are an unnecessary waste of fire control resources and could delay firefighters from getting to a real emergency," Li said.

According to the law, firefighters should respond to blazes and any incident that puts a resident's life or property in danger.

But Li said the definition of danger is "vague so people call us and we rush to help".

As of July 20, firefighters in Beijing had been called to 3,119 cases of people locked out of their homes, closely followed by cases involving searching for lost pets and removing rings from people's fingers, according to Beijing Fire Control.

This year, the authority cut off 265 rings and has even invented a device to remove rings due to the number of incidents.

Fire safety for tall buildings The Beijing fire control department has been conducting fire safety checks in high-rise buildings across the city since July, aiming to reduce fire risks and improve the response of firefighting staff this autumn. "We ask each building property department to clean up any mess in corridors and on roofs, and ensure they have fire control devices," said Li Jin, deputy director of the authority, adding that the checks will continue through October. Beijing Fire Control, which falls under the city's public security bureau, has also been checking the quality of insulating materials on outside walls, seeking to identify sub-standard materials that may present a fire hazard, he said. "In addition to checking firefighting equipment, we'll also examine the buildings' fire control departments, ensuring their knowledge of escape routes and how to use extinguishers," he said. The authority conducts such checks on key buildings every six months, including electricity facilities and railway stations. During holiday periods, it pays more attention to storerooms in supermarkets and other areas where garbage may accumulate, according to Li. "Putting out fires cannot depend entirely on us. It also requires the coordination of residents' self-rescue teams and other departments," he said. The authority has fire engines that can reach 101-meter-tall buildings, "but boosting awareness of fire prevention is still the key", said Li.

"If a person loses his or her keys and has a child at home, or a cooking appliance is switched on, we'll help without hesitation," Li said. "Otherwise we're left in a confusing position. Most of time, it's hard to refuse someone help."

However, he said his teams always warn residents that their solutions may not be subtle.

On Sept 4, a woman in Chao-yang district locked her 1-year-old child in a BMW and called fire control. When firefighters arrived, she refused to let them break the window. They had to help her find a locksmith.

City firefighters also assisted a man in rescuing his pet monkey from a tree, and they found a yellow weasel for someone in the summer.

As well as urging citizens to be more responsible, Li suggested the government improve emergency services platforms and allow the private sector and civil societies to play a bigger role.

"Many people have no idea about the people and businesses that can help in non-emergency situations, such as locksmiths and animal shelters. They just think to call us first," he said.

In addition, he said, firefighters are regularly required to pump out floodwater, remove beehives and close gas valves.

"To do this, we have to provide more training, because these seemingly small things require skill," he said. "One of our firefighters died after falling from a tree as he removed a beehive."

The situation is similar in many other parts of the country.

Gu Jinlong, deputy director of Shanghai Fire Control, said, "We help lots of residents get rid of beehives every year, as well as clean up the mess after typhoons pass through."

Firefighters have been killed or hurt dealing with non-emergencies in Sichuan and Gansu provinces, "each of which could have been avoided", according to Kang Qingchun, a professor specializing in fire control research at the Chinese People's Armed Police Force Academy.

He disagreed that Chinese firefighters were wasting resources on non-emergencies, however, saying minor things can cost a great deal to solve, "which is not fair for taxpayers to take on".

Integrating private and social associations in the 119 platform is a good idea, he said. "But the key lies in clarifying the role of firefighters in the law or provincial regulations, to prevent confusion over what is an emergency," he added.

In some Western countries, the ratio of emergency services personnel to residents is larger than in China, according to Gu in Shanghai.

"We're responsible for more people in a community, so firefighters should instruct residents to use commercial agencies to solve problems before a unified rescue platform can be established," he said.

"It's crucial that emergency services and communities work together to get through this messy period."

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn