Two Taoyuan City Government workers and six fire department personnel were yesterday charged with dereliction of duty and colluding with a business operator that resulted in a deadly blaze in which six young firefighters were killed earlier this year.
The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office laid the charges against local government officials and fire department personnel in charge of building inspection for fire safety and enforcing safety codes.
Also indicted was Liu Te-bin (劉得斌), 42, owner of a bowling alley complex in Sinwu District (新屋), Taoyuan, where the fire broke out, consuming most of the building and killing the six firefighters on Jan. 20.
Liu was charged with violating the Fire Service Act (消防法) and fraudulent reporting about the building’s fire safety equipment.
The two government workers charged were Cheng Chao-chun (鄭紹春), a 65-year-old senior technician at the Sinwu District Office; and Chang Chia-lung (張嘉隆), a 40-year-old staffer at the Department of Public Works.
According to prosecutors, Cheng changed the status of the illegal structures in Liu’s building in his inspection reports — from “A3” (prioritized for forced demolition) to B (less serious violations) — allowing the structures to remain operational for many years until the blaze in January.
Six Sinwu Fire Department personnel were also charged: Wu Shang-cheng (吳尚城), department chief from 2010 to July last year; Hsieh Chien-sheng (謝建勝), a squad captain; and four firefighters surnamed Lin (林), Chuang (莊), Peng (彭) and Lai (賴).
Prosecutors said in a statement that the owner of the bowling alley was required to conduct fire safety inspections twice a year and should have enlisted certified fire safety technicians to check the building’s fire equipment and its compliance with other safety standards.
They accused Liu of colluding with officials in charge of fire safety inspection, adding that lax enforcement by responsible officials allowed Liu to reap about NT$3 million (US$97,180) in illicit gains.
Prosecutors said that according to one witness’ account, the Sinwu fire chief was heard telling a junior firefighter during an inspection of the bowling alley building: “When doing fire safety checks, there is no need to write down the facts.”
Citing another occasion, squad captain Hsieh was heard telling a junior firefighter “to go easy” on the inspection of the bowling alley.
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