Keeping Society’s Saviors Safe

By+Li+Li

Firefighting is a career filled with danger and sacrifice. The loss of two young firefighters who fell to their deaths while battling a high-rise apartment blaze in Shanghai moved the country.

On the afternoon of May 1， Qian Lingyun， 23， and Liu Jie， 20， were trying to extinguish a 13th-floor blaze sweeping through an apartment block when tragedy struck.

A member of the public captured the harrowing moment when the pair were swept off a balcony. Another anonymous witness said that one firefighter was pushed toward the balcony by a sudden explosion before his colleague tried to grab his hand and save his life. However， the weight was too much for him to hold， and the pair fell to the pavement below.

Their deaths unavoidably dealt another blow to the citys fire department， which had already lost two young firemen， aged 18 and 23 respectively， earlier this year. On February 4， the two were killed when a building collapsed while they worked to extinguish a warehouse fire.

According to the Ministry of Public Security， 144 firefighters from the armed police forces died on duty between 2008 and 2012. According to a report by Peoples Police magazine in 2013， the average age of firefighters who died in the line of duty since 2006 was 24， with the youngest being only 18 years old. In comparison， of the 25 career firefighters killed in the United States in 2013， only five were younger than 30 and only five had less than five years of service.

Ma Tingguang， an assistant professor of fire prevention and safety technology with Oklahoma State University of the United States， said that the deaths of the heroic pair might have been avoided if they had had a better knowledge of backdrafts—an explosion resulting from rapid re-introduction of oxygen to a fire in an oxygen-depleted environment， such as the breaking of a window or opening of a door to an enclosed space.

He went on to say that the tragedy highlighted a major issue among Chinas firefighting forces： the majority of firefighters are soldiers of the armed police forces， who devote their two-year military service to the learning process of putting out fires and saving peoples lives during natural disasters. While only a very small proportion of them can be promoted to officer positions and have an extended fire service career， firefighters in China are mostly young and inexperienced， which partly explains the high casualty rates.

Jin Weiping， the fire chief of Yuncheng， north Chinas Shanxi Province， told Banyuetan， a biweekly magazine produced by Xinhua News Agency， that most firefighters in his firehouse are barely out of their 20s， have little experience and are equipped with only a limited knowledge of self-protection in the field. “Many of them come to be more experienced at the end of their military service. A firefighters short career in China is inconsistent with the increasingly arduous challenges that require experienced personnel，” said Jin.

Gao Ming， the fire chief of Jinan， capital of east Chinas Shandong Province， said that as a result of the shortened training period of firefighters， even some commanders are not qualified； the firefighting forces in general， especially younger firefighters， havent developed sufficient self-protection awareness in the face of enormous dangers.

Gao said that the guidelines and tactics in training firefighters in China are more focused on saving lives of other people and fail to put enough emphasis on the safety of firefighters themselves. As a result， younger firefighters often cannot keep a cool head in face of a complex situation. “Some dont realize that they are about to reach their physical limits until it is too late. This is why many tragedies take place，” said Gao.

To overcome this situation， several provinces， such as Shandong， Hubei and Anhui， have experimented with hiring contracted firefighters.

However， these firefighters， most of whom renew their contracts every two years， are not well compensated. Most of them quit their jobs within a few years and fail to become career firefighters like they were supposed to.

In 2001， Qingdao became the first city in Shandong to hire contracted firefighters under a pilot program. By the end of 2003， a total of 4，444 contracted firefighters had been employed in Shandong. However， only 2，414， equivalent to 46 percent， of these firefighters were still working at their jobs by the end of 2011.

Ma Xianhong， the fire chief of Shandong， said that the high turnover of the contracted firefighters， which can be attributed to the high risks involved in the job and the relatively low pay and benefits， has hampered the overall efficiency of the fire service. Ma said that many cities dont accept contracted firefighters over 28 years old， which results in their early retirement.

Several provinces have begun instituting regulations to extend the contract term for contracted firefighters and significantly raise their income.

A new management method on contracted firefighters was issued in Shandong at the end of last year. It stipulates that the contracted firefighters can choose to sign an indefinite employment contract with the firehouse after signing two successive 10-year contracts.

“This means that firefighting can be a lifelong career for those willing to do the job，” said Ma.

Similarly， Jiangxi Province in east China issued a regulation in February， stipulating that contracted firefighters are entitled to a hardship subsidy and personal accident insurance， which has already covered all firefighting professionals under military service. The regulation also suggests a three-year term for their first contract and a five-year term for the second contract.

Observers suggested that China should establish a certification system for fire service employees such as firefighters， fire officers， fire instructors and public fire educators so that only qualified personnel can fill these positions， their hard-earned experience can be recognized and they can obtain benefits that match their skills and competence.

The observers believe that such a system will help the large number of armed police soldiers in the fire service to climb the career ladder and become professional firefighters.

The certification of fire service professionals is still being implemented， with the national professional standards of construction firefighters only being issued in 2008. These standards have been used by certification centers established in provinces and municipalities ever since. The standards divide construction firefighters into junior firefighters， intermediate firefighters， senior firefighters， firefighting engineers and senior firefighting engineers. Jin， the fire chief of Yuncheng， said that the government should overhaul the management of the fire service employees by learning from the experience of those abroad in designing positions， providing pay and benefits， offering training programs and providing an upward career path.