Better enforcement prevents fires

The fire at the Eastern Science Park (東方科學園區) complex in Hsichih burned for 43 hours, resulting in huge financial losses. The damage caused by the fire quickly spread to the local stock market, as both the TAIEX index and the transaction volume of stock plunged. Meanwhile, politicians engaged in a war of words over the inferno. The fire high-lights three major problems in Taiwan's society: the establishment of, compliance with and enforcement of the rule of law.

For decades, the law was merely a tool of the government. Government policy was to keep the public uninformed or misinformed. People were taught simply to abide by the law. If they did not, they were punished and punishment served as a deterrent for potential criminals. As a result, the people of Taiwan "abide" by the law only out of their fear of punishment. How-ever, "complying" with the law is far more important. Compliance with the law ensures effective protection of people's property, rights, lives and safety.

Only when people appreciate what compliance with the law really means will they acknowledge the importance and legitimacy of the law and abide by it willingly.

A total of 8,000 people worked at the Eastern Science Park. It is crucial for such high-rises to have the proper fire-safety facilities, especially as a fire in such a building would be difficult for firemen to extinguish under any circumstances. Apart from installing proper fire-safety facilities, the ability to operate and maintain those facilities is no less important. The facilities should not be there just for the sake of passing the fire departments' safety tests.

According to Taipei County's fire department, the Hsichih complex failed to pass a fire safety test on Feb. 21 because its automatic sprinkler system was disabled. The management of the property was given one month to fix the sprinklers. The complex again failed to pass a test on March 6 for a lack of fire extinguishers, emergency lighting and exit signs, as well as having broken water pumps. The building's indoor thermometer and smoke detectors were not working either. Therefore, the government demanded immediate repair work to be carried out.

The fire department demanded that the management fix all these problems by April 6. The management, however, requested the deadline to be extended for one month and then requested a second extension. Surprisingly, the fire department agreed to postpone the follow-up safety test to early June.

Whenever a major problem with safety facilities is found in a building, its management should repair the problems immediately because of the human lives and property at stake.

Hoping to avoid punishment for violating the law, rather than trying to comply with the law, the management repeatedly requested the safety tests be postponed. The local fire department actually allowed the management to continue violating the law, although the department itself was clearly incapable of extinguishing fires in the high-rise complex.

Office buildings are categorized as Class B buildings (乙纇建築物). According to the fire prevention regulations, amended on Oct. 28, 1994, all Class B buildings over 15 stories high must install automatic sprinkler systems on all floors. As the Eastern Science Park obtained its construction permit in 1989, the building was built in compliance with the old regulations. The building therefore has no automatic sprinkler systems from the 10th floor down.