Several lawmakers yesterday called for tougher fire safety regulations after deadly blazes in Taipei and Kaohsiung raised concerns about fire safety.
Lawmakers attending a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee questioned public officials over fire safety standards, with many calling for a review of regulations.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) raised the issue of disaster preparedness and fire safety in buildings constructed more than 30 years ago.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
She said that although buildings that are 30 years or older account for about 28 percent of sales of residential real estate in Taiwan, homeowners might have to wait decades before their properties undergo urban renewal.
DPP Legislator Low Mei-ling (羅美玲) said that the fires in Taipei and Kaohsiung, which occurred about a week apart, show that fire safety inspections must be improved in public and private settings.
Low called for a review of the fines stipulated by the Fire Services Act (消防法), saying that with some exceptions, they are “very, very low” and that businesses could potentially earn back the amount they paid in fines “in one night.”
She also called for more random spot checks of fire safety equipment.
From January to March, about 6,600 fires were reported nationwide, killing 48 people, Low said, citing National Fire Agency statistics.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) proposed that fire safety regulations be amended to impose heavier penalties on businesses that disable any one of five major fire safety features, including indoor fire hydrants, automatic fire sprinkler systems, automatic fire alarm systems, emergency broadcasting systems and smoke exhaust systems.
“I feel like every time we [wait until] something happens to review” the situation, DPP Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) said.
Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), who attended the meeting to answer lawmakers’ questions, urged businesses not to use fire safety equipment past their expiration dates.
To prevent accidents similar to a blaze at a KTV venue in Taipei, the ministry’s Construction and Planning Agency on Thursday last week asked all local governments to conduct public safety checks at entertainment venues — including KTVs — within their jurisdictions, Hsu said.
The blaze at the Cashbox Partyworld KTV branch on Taipei’s Linsen N Road on the morning of April 26 left six people dead and dozens injured.
On Sunday, a fire at a five-story home in Kaohsiung claimed five lives.
The victims were identified as the daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren of cardiologist Lai Wen-de (賴文德), the former director of Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital, who was rescued from the blaze along with his wife.
Early yesterday, a fire at a house in Taoyuan’s Gueishan District (龜山) killed a 60-year-old man.
Additional reporting by CNA
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