In Handan, Hebei Province, a provincial government fire safety assessment team conducted both overt and covert inspections of hospitals, schools, and elderly care facilities, and discovered—
Multiple establishments have been found to have significant fire hazards (exposed).
"Does the construction work have the necessary permits?" "How will students be evacuated if a fire breaks out in the middle of the night?"... Recently, the provincial government's on-site assessment team for fire safety work in 2025 conducted both announced and unannounced inspections of fire safety in Hebei Province. They randomly inspected 33 units, including hospitals, boarding schools, and elderly care facilities in Handan City, and identified a total of 127 potential hazards. The assessment team has now handed over these issues to the relevant departments and enterprises, urging them to rectify the problems.
The operating room was built using flammable materials in violation of regulations.
"Whoever is on duty, please switch the manual/automatic mode of the fire control panel." At Handan Renxiang Hospital, the assessment team posed this question on the spot and found that the personnel on duty in the fire control room did not have fire facility operator certificates and were not proficient in operating the relevant facilities.
The assessment team randomly opened a utility shaft and found that it had not been fireproofed. "If a fire breaks out in the utility shaft downstairs, the fire and smoke will rise up."
On the third floor, the operating room ceiling is made of flammable plastic panels, and the walls are constructed with corrugated steel polystyrene panels. The walls of the traditional Chinese medicine decoction rooms on the fourth and fifth floors are also constructed with this material, and there are no smoke detectors installed inside the rooms.
"The core material in the middle of this type of corrugated steel sheet is polystyrene foam, which burns quickly when exposed to an open flame, emitting black smoke and releasing toxic gases, capable of instantly engulfing an entire building." The assessment team pointed out that even when automatic fire alarm devices and automatic fire extinguishing systems are installed in hospital wards, treatment areas, and operating areas, the fire performance rating of the ceiling and wall decoration materials should not be lower than B1.
The hospital illegally set up staff dormitories on the fourth floor and carried out renovations without obtaining the necessary approvals. Staff dormitories and a kitchen were also illegally set up on the sixth floor, connected to the wards below. The assessment team pointed out that living areas and production/operation areas within the same building must be completely fire-separated, and living areas must have independent safety exits, evacuation routes, and necessary fire-fighting equipment.
When the assessment team arrived at the fire pump room, they found that the electrical contact pressure gauge was faulty and the water tank was not full. They also randomly opened a fire hydrant box and found that the hose reel was missing its spring clip.
Escape routes were locked, and fire compartments were expanded without authorization.
As densely populated places, schools are extremely vulnerable to fires, with potentially disastrous consequences.
Upon arriving at Chengbei Experimental School in Yongnian District, Handan City, the assessment team went straight to the dormitory building. The dormitory building has four floors, but each floor's evacuation corridor is separated by an iron gate that is locked at night, resulting in only one evacuation staircase for both boys' and girls' dormitories.
The assessment team asked the dormitory manager on the third floor, "If a fire breaks out in the middle of the night, how will you evacuate the students?" The manager hesitated and failed to clearly explain the fire emergency response procedure and evacuation plan.
Upon reaching the fourth floor, the assessment team randomly opened a fire hydrant box. They found that the fire hydrant outlet diameter was 80 mm, but the hose outlet diameter was only 65 mm, which was clearly mismatched and could not be connected and used properly.
At Tianhe Experimental School in Yongnian District, the assessment team found that the corridors of the teaching building were blocked by iron railings. As they walked up the stairs of the dormitory building, they saw that the stairwell windows, which were intended for evacuation, were piled with flammable plastic bags.
The dormitory building has six floors, but parts of the fifth and sixth floors are separated and locked by iron fences (see picture). When the assessment team inquired further about the reason, the relevant person in charge of the school admitted that this part of the area had been rented out to other schools for use as dormitories.
Nursing homes were also a key target of this inspection.
Upon arriving at Ankang Nursing Home in Linzhang County, Handan City, the inspection team observed that the south building of the nursing home had four floors, the north building had six floors, and the courtyard between the two buildings had been illegally covered with a glass roof, causing the two buildings to be completely connected and the fire compartment area to be expanded, which clearly exceeded the standard requirements.
The two buildings are connected on the second floor by a U-shaped corridor, and some windows are sealed with iron bars, severely hindering escape and firefighting rescue. All normally closed fire doors in the corridors from the first to the sixth floor of the north building are open, allowing smoke to spread rapidly and causing the fire to intensify quickly in the event of a fire. The second-floor refuge rooms do not have fire telephones installed as required by regulations.
In addition, the sixth floor was used as a family residence, with a kitchen set up, liquefied petroleum gas cylinders used in violation of regulations, and a warehouse for flammable materials set up in violation of regulations.
The assessment team also discovered that the control signal line for the sprinkler pump in the fire pump room of the elderly care facility had been cut off, preventing it from starting automatically in the event of a fire.
The multi-business mixed-use venue was illegally expanded, and its security windows were sealed off.
During their visit to Handan, the assessment team observed mixed-use establishments in the city and surrounding counties that integrate multiple business formats and functions, including catering, entertainment, and cultural and sports activities. These establishments were mostly self-built commercial buildings.
These types of premises are often sublet and sub-sublet frequently, leaving fire safety responsibilities unfulfilled and management in a state of disorder.
Qingxinyuan in Feixiang District is a multi-functional venue integrating accommodation, bathing, and catering, with a total building area of nearly 10,000 square meters, but it has not obtained fire safety approval.
In the cramped fire control room, the assessment team asked the person in charge to operate the fire broadcast system. A sharp fire alarm sounded, but the fire broadcast system was not set up for each floor, making it impossible to provide accurate and effective guidance to people inside the building.
The ceiling of the business area was largely made of flammable plastic panels, the expanded floors were not equipped with smoke detectors and sprinkler systems as required, and the distance from the farthest point of the bathroom to the nearest safety exit exceeded the standard requirements... The operator repeatedly violated regulations by expanding and renovating the building, which completely destroyed the original safety layout of the building.
The six floors of the building were illegally occupied by the homeowner and his family of more than ten people. Based on the overall inspection, the premises posed a significant fire hazard.
It is worth mentioning that all exterior windows on the first to fifth floors of the premises were sealed off with burglar bars that could not be opened. Learning from the lessons of the "1.24" particularly serious fire accident in Xinyu, Jiangxi, in February 2024, the National Fire and Rescue Administration issued a notice requiring the removal of obstacles that impede escape and firefighting rescue operations from doors and windows in densely populated places. This inspection revealed that some areas still failed to implement these measures effectively, posing significant fire risks. (People's Daily reporter Qi Yukun)
