Kim Thanh replicates the Inter-family Fire Prevention and Fighting Safety Group

197 family groups

One morning in late September, Kim Thanh District Police and Phu Thai Town Police visited several inter-household fire safety groups to inspect and disseminate information. Many households in Phu Thai Town have houses combined with production and business, so fire prevention and fighting work has become complicated. To raise awareness of fire prevention and fighting in the community, especially households with houses combined with production and business, the locality has disseminated information and encouraged households to participate in the inter-household fire safety groups.

Currently, Phu Thai town has established 33 inter-family groups on all roads and residential areas with households having houses combined with production and business. Phu Thai town also has the largest number of inter-family groups established in Kim Thanh district.

The district currently has 197 inter-family groups, with 2,188 participating households. According to Kim Thanh District Police, at the beginning of this year, the locality only registered to establish 4 inter-family groups, but now it has exceeded the plan by nearly 50 times. All communes and towns in the district have established this group.

Lieutenant Colonel Bui Thien Vuong, Deputy Captain of the Administrative Police Team for Social Order (Kim Thanh District Police) said: "To quickly establish and have a large number of Inter-family Fire Prevention and Fighting Safety Teams as present, the police agency reviewed all households with houses combined with production and business, and advised local authorities to develop an implementation plan. In addition to the number of households with houses combined with production and business, 226 adjacent households also participated in the Inter-family Team model."

Police agencies at all levels in the district have also coordinated to promote propaganda and mobilize departments, branches, and organizations to join in and people to respond. The police agency emphasized the high risk of fire and explosion if there is no knowledge and prevention skills, especially for households whose houses are combined with production and business.

Improve troubleshooting skills

Since joining the Inter-family Fire Prevention and Fighting Team, many families have become more aware of fire prevention and fighting. All members of the Inter-family Team have been informed and disseminated basic knowledge about fire prevention and fighting by police officers. All Inter-family Teams have practiced some basic fire fighting, rescue and first aid plans and skills. Each Inter-family Team is equipped with portable fire extinguishers, demolition tools such as hammers, pliers, and a bell or alarm system. Most households are equipped with their own fire extinguishers and some demolition tools.

The family of Ms. Le Thi Dung in Quynh Khe 2 village, Kim Xuyen commune has opened a refrigeration store for 3 years now. Before joining the Inter-family Group, the couple hardly knew about fire prevention methods. Currently, the couple is always aware of this. The couple rearranges goods and furniture neatly. Unnecessary items are removed. The family regularly checks the electrical system and equips the store with portable fire extinguishers. "Now, it has become a habit that my husband and I do not turn on or plug in unnecessary electrical equipment. On days when we are not at the store, before leaving, I check all heat-generating and fire-generating equipment, turn off the circuit breaker to cut off all power sources," Ms. Dung informed.

Thanks to the Inter-family Teams, many people have the skills to handle fires from the beginning, preventing them from developing into a fire, causing serious consequences. At around 4:30 a.m. on May 18, 2023, on the way home from work through a section of road in Hop Nhat village (Lai Vu commune), when someone shouted "fire", Mr. Bui Duy Can, Head of the Inter-family Team on Fire Prevention and Fighting Safety No. 15 of the locality, immediately arrived at the scene. Observing the electrical box on the electric pole with black smoke, Mr. Can immediately went to a nearby store to borrow a portable fire extinguisher to put out the fire. Together with some local people who came to assist, the fire was quickly completely extinguished. Thanks to that, the local electrical system suffered almost no damage. "The reason we were not afraid of danger and quickly extinguished the fire was because the police force instructed and trained us on how to handle many fire and explosion situations," said Mr. Can.