Attempts yesterday by the Greater Taoyuan government to refuse National Association for Firefighters’ Rights members admission to a review meeting about a fire that claimed the lives of six firefighters on Tuesday caused a clash between the City Fire Department and family members of the dead men, ultimately forcing Taoyuan Fire Department Chief Hu Ying-ta (胡英達) to allow the association members in.
The fire in the municipality’s Sinwu District (新屋) and the resulting deaths has caused a backlash from the firefighters’ relatives and association members, with more than 50 gathering in front of the city hall yesterday in anger, protesting over what they say is a long-standing deficiency in the municipal government’s staff and equipment, as well as a negligent, outdated firefighting administration.
Despite the initial refusal to admit association members into the meeting, Hu finally bowed to pressure and allowed the association president, vice president and other senior staff to sit in on the meeting.
Photo: Chiu Yi-tung, Taipei Times
According to the association, over the past two years, the nation has lost 19 firefighters, despite the association’s efforts to warn the government three years ago of inherent problems in the structure of the firefighting system.
“We have suggested and are still suggesting three main points of change to the system; first to allow base-level firefighters to participate and give input during meetings on reforms, and to address the lack of staff and equipment as the second and third points respectively,” the association said.
The government needs to listen to firefighters because they are the ones on the front lines and know best what they need in terms of labor and equipment, the association said, adding that firefighters should form a neutral third party and should be present during equipment purchases.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, in Taipei, hundreds of people led by Fire Protection Engineers Association Union honorary chairman Ho Chou-tsung (何岫璁) staged a protest, calling on the Control Yuan, the Legislative Yuan and the Ministry of the Interior to condemn any sort of closed-door deals on a draft act on firefighting equipment and personnel.
The government should be transparent in its debates over the legislation and invite professionals to partake in the process, Ho said.
Since the Wei Er Kang Restaurant fire in Taichung in 1995 that caused 64 deaths and 11 injuries, the government has allowed firefighters to temporarily become either fire protection technicians or fire protection engineers, to conduct equipment and installment inspections without passing national examinations, to fill a shortfall until enough trained staff were hired for those roles.
However, the draft act is considering allowing people to fill these roles permanently without having to pass any sort of national examination, Ho said, adding that this would compromise firefighting safety.
While these firefighters are restricted to inspecting buildings of five stories or less, Ho said that the Sinwu incident occurred in a building meeting such criteria.
In response, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chiu Chang-yueh (邱昌嶽) accepted the complaints on behalf of the ministry and promised continued communication with all parties to improve the nation’s management of firefighting personnel and equipment.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by