The Taoyuan District Court yesterday sentenced the proprietor of a bowling alley to six years, 10 months in prison for negligence leading to a 2015 blaze that killed six firefighters.
Liu Te-pin (劉得斌), 48, was convicted of negligence in maintaining the three-story building in Taoyuan’s Sinwu District (新屋) and breaches of fire safety codes.
The court found him guilty of breaching Article 35 of the Fire Services Act (消防法) for failure to provide and maintain fire safety equipment, which led to death from a fire, the ruling said.
As it was the first ruling, it can be appealed.
Six Taoyuan firefighters died in the Jan. 20, 2015, blaze when the sheet-metal roofing of the building collapsed.
Liu, who took over the bowling alley in 2013, “did not follow the law on regular inspection and maintenance of safety measures,” which caused faulty electrical wires to ignite, the ruling said, adding that Liu’s failure to properly maintain the structure had contributed to the circumstances that caused the firefighters’ deaths.
An investigation found that the building’s fire alarms and emergency lighting system failed to function, enabling the blaze to rapidly burn out of control.
During the trial, Liu’s lawyer argued that the work of firefighters was inherently dangerous, and said that Liu had made improvements after regular checks by fire inspectors.
However, prosecutors said that inspection documents listed various deficiencies and equipment defects, which were not remedied.
Two city inspectors and six fire department officials were also charged in relation to the incident, as an investigation showed that inspectors reportedly knew the building was an illegal structure that should have been razed, but still allowed it to pass fire safety inspections.
Although prosecutors had charged them with falsifying government records and colluding to benefit Liu, the court did not convict them, citing insufficient evidence of wrongdoing.
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