The Urumqi fire had nothing to do with China’s 0-COVID policy

Shortly after the incident occurred, the mayor of the Urumqi Municipal People’s Government, the Mayor of the Tianshan District People’s Government, and the commander of the Municipal Fire Department released a joint statement.

The mayor of Urumqi Municipal People’s Government, Memtimin Qadir:

Greetings to the general public, at about 19:49 on November 24, a fire broke out in a high-rise residential building in Jixiangyuan Community, Tianshan District, our city, causing casualties. We are deeply saddened that this happened. Here, on behalf of the Urumqi Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal People’s Government, I express my deep condolences to the victims, my sincere sorrows to the families of the victims, the injured and their relatives, and my apologies to the people of the city. After the fire broke out, the comrades from the Party Committee, the People’s Government of the Autonomous Region, the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government rushed to the scene to direct and organized all forces to go all out fire fighting, search and rescue of people who are trapped, treatment of the wounded, evacuation of the masses, comfort of family members, etc. At about 22:35, the open fire was extinguished; the injured were quickly sent to the hospital, and a medical expert rescue team was organized to go all out for treatment. 10 people died after the rescue, and 9 people suffered from moderate inhalational lung injury. At present, their vital signs are stable. Life is in danger; the relevant people were urgently transferred to 3 hotels and properly resettled. After on-site inspection and inquiries to the parties concerned, the building where the fire broke out was a high-rise residential building, and the location of the fire was on the 15th floor of Unit 2. It was initially determined that the fire was caused by a faulty electrical line. The fire source ignited the indoor items, the fire spread to the 17th floor, and the smoke spread to the 21st floor. At present, we are mobilizing resources from all parties to comprehensively do a good job in the comfort, assistance, and relief work of the families of the victims, the wounded, and their families, strengthen psychological counseling, maximize the dignity of the dead, comfort the families, and protect the masses. The autonomous region and Urumqi City have set up a joint investigation team, and are conducting an in-depth investigation into the cause and responsibility of the fire. Those involved in dereliction of duty will be held accountable in accordance with laws and regulations, and no tolerance will be given. The lessons of this fire are very profound. We will adhere to the problem-oriented approach, draw inferences about other cases from one instance, thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on fire protection and safety, build a strong sense of public safety, always adhere to the will of the people and the will of life, and follow the epidemic prevention and economic requirements The requirements for stability and development must be safe, and the deployment requirements of the party committee and government of the autonomous region are implemented. Electricity, fire, and gas consumption in various risks, especially fire hazards, are comprehensively investigated and rectified, and efforts are made to ensure the safety of people’s lives and their property.”

Mr. Hamiti Maimaiti Yiming, Mayor of Tianshan District, has reported on the specific situation of the “11.24” fire and further directives after the incident.

“Last night, a major fire broke out in a high-rise residence in Jixiangyuan Community, Erdaoqiao Street, our district, resulting in the loss of 10 people’s lives, and 9 people’s physical conditions were injured to varying degrees, the current vital signs are stable, no life-threatening. The fire caused great losses to the lives and properties of the people and brought heavy grief and sorrow to the families concerned. We are very sad, extremely remorseful, deeply guilty, and uneasy. Jixiangyuan Community is located at No. 613, Jinyin Road, Tianshan District. The building involved is a high-rise residential building at No. 8, with a total of 156 households on 21 floors. After the fire broke out, responsible comrades of the Tianshan District Party Committee and the District Government rushed to the scene as soon as possible and fully cooperated with firefighting, first aid, emergency, and other departments to carry out on-site rescue, and personnel evacuation. Quickly send the injured to the People’s Hospital of the Autonomous Region and the Municipal Friendship Hospital, make a clear diagnosis for each wounded, determine the diagnosis and treatment plan, organize the strongest medical resources to carry out treatment, and save the lives of the injured to the greatest extent. Organize all forces in the region to do a good job of evacuating and resettling the families of the casualties, comfort and assistance, psychological counseling, and other aftermath work, so as to minimize the pain of the masses. Our district has set up a leading group for the aftermath disposal of the masses headed by the responsible comrades of the district party committee and the district government. It has seven working groups including medical treatment, mass resettlement, assessment and repair, hidden danger investigation, publicity and guidance, and emergency material guarantee. work and mobilize all forces to solve the difficult demands raised by the relevant masses. At present, 514 people have been evacuated and resettled to 3 hotels in the jurisdiction, fully equipped with living materials, and do their best to provide service guarantees. People with undamaged houses will be arranged to go home in batches and in an orderly manner from tomorrow; repairs will be carried out immediately to ensure that the people live through the winter smoothly. Regarding the issue of whether there is a three-day silence in the community and whether the escape routes of the residential buildings involved are tied up with iron wires. After repeated verification with the street, the community where Jixiangyuan Community is located, and on-site fire rescue personnel, there is no problem of wire binding in the community, and all the doors of the residents and units in the building are not closed. The pictures of floor doors bound with iron wires posted on the Internet are embezzled and maliciously spliced. Netizens questioning the Jixiangyuan community as “low risk, you can go downstairs for activities”. In accordance with the “New Coronavirus Pneumonia Prevention and Control Plan (Ninth Edition)” and the relevant regulations of the state and autonomous regions on epidemic prevention and control, after comprehensive research and evaluation, starting from November 12, 2022, Jixiangyuan Community will be reduced from a high-risk area to a low-risk area. Subsequently, according to the “Work Plan on Orderly Restoring the Living Order of Residents in Low-Risk Areas”, the District Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters conducted a comprehensive review of the prevention and control team, basic ledger, nucleic acid testing of all staff, and public health environment improvement in Jixiangyuan Community. After the evaluation, since November 20, the residents of Jixiangyuan Community have implemented peak-staggered orderly exits and downstairs, and activities in the community. The fire in Jixiangyuan Community has brought us a heavy lesson. In the next step, we will resolutely implement the deployment requirements of the Party Committee of the Autonomous Region and the Municipal Party Committee, and continue to do our best to treat the wounded, rescue the masses, and deal with the aftermath, so as to minimize the losses of the masses. At the same time, learn from the pain, deeply reflect, comprehensively investigate and rectify various hidden risks, effectively strengthen fire protection and production safety, and do our best to protect the safety of people’s lives and property!

Mr. Li Wensheng, Commander of the Municipal Fire Department

“At 19:49 on November 24, the command center of the Fire Rescue Detachment in Urumqi, Xinjiang received an alarm. A fire broke out in Room 1502, Unit 2, Building 8, Jixiangyuan, Jinyin Road, Fulu Road, Tianshan District, Urumqi City. After receiving the alarm, Urumqi City Fire Department The rescue detachment mobilized 7 fire rescue stations and a heavy machinery rescue brigade. A total of 23 fire trucks and 109 commanders and fighters rushed to the scene for disposal. A total of 514 residents were evacuated and 21 trapped people were rescued in this fire. The fire caused 10 deaths and 9 injuries. The fire has the characteristics of a large fire load, fast spread, many trapped people, and difficult evacuation and searches and rescue. At 19:54, 3 vehicles and 15 people from the Heping Road Fire Station in the jurisdiction arrived at the scene. Through external observation, it was found that the fire had broken through the outer window and rolled upwards. According to the situation at the scene, the commander divided the firefighters into two firefighting teams and one search and rescue team. They climbed the stairs to reach the lower floor of the fire floor (the elevator has been powered off and cannot be used). After an on-site investigation, the door of Room 1502 on the fire floor was open. Filled with thick smoke, the flames rolled violently outward. Fire rescue personnel immediately went deep into the building, searched for trapped persons along the stairs to the upper floor of the fire floor, and deployed water belts along the stairs to the lower fire floor to extinguish the fire floor and report the situation to the command center. On the same day, the full attendance headquarters dispatched Tuanjie Road, Xinhua North Road, Hetian Street, Special Service Station 1, Special Service Station 2, Lianhu Road Fire Station, and Heavy Machinery Engineering Rescue Brigade to the scene for reinforcements. At 20:32, the full attendance headquarters of the detachment arrived at the scene. Organize the search and rescue teams of Heping Road and Xinhua North Road fire stations to continue searching the upper floors of the fire floor, and the fire extinguishing team to continue to suppress the fire on the 15th floor and deploy forces to protect the 16th floor. At 21:40, the full attendance command arrived at the scene and immediately ordered the Urumqi fire department to plan out the squads of firefighters. First, concentrate and unify on the positions on the 16th and 17th floors to control the fire; the second is to evacuate all community workers and the remaining people who are trapped inside the building; the third is to organize all the rescue teams participating in the war to carry out re-investigation and search and rescue of the fire unit from top to bottom, floor by floor, and house by house. The entrance and exit roads of the community are narrow, and there are few parking spaces. There are a large number of private cars parked on both sides of the road, and it is difficult for large fire trucks to enter the community to carry out operations. While carrying out search and rescue and fire fighting in the building, relevant departments were organized to relocate the private driveway in front of the building, demolish the daily ground piles, and fully open the fire fighting operations on the north and south sides of the building. At 22:35, the open fire at the scene was extinguished. After repeated investigations and verifications on the spot, all personnel in the unit have been evacuated and rescued. Based on the on-site investigation and the statements of the parties, it was determined that the fire started in the southeast corner of the bedroom on the east side of Room 1502. The cause of the fire was preliminarily determined to be a fire on the plug board in the family bedroom. The specific cause is still under investigation. The fire caused heavy casualties and we learned a lot: First, the laying and installation of electrical wiring in residents’ homes did not comply with fire safety management regulations, burying fire hazards. The second is that the normally closed fire doors on the floor where the fire broke out were not kept closed, causing the fire to spread rapidly and expand. The third is that the roads in the burning community are narrow, and private cars are parked chaotically, which affects the rapid arrival of fire engines to deal with them. Fourth, some residents are weak in self-defense and self-rescue ability. They are not familiar with the location of the second safety exit leading to the roof of the residential building. Here, I would like to remind everyone that when a fire breaks out in a high-rise building, if the fire has spread and expanded, and high-temperature and toxic smoke enter the stairwell, the trapped people must not escape through the evacuation stairs. In this case, the trapped person should be calm, use soaked towels and sheets to block the door gap to prevent toxic fumes from entering the room, and call the police immediately, inform the exact location, and wait for the firefighters to rescue them.”

What is relevant to Urumqi and the effects of Zero COVID on people who are at a disadvantage economically is that 6 days after the incident, Li Yanmei, deputy secretary-general of the Urumqi Municipal People’s Government, said at the press conference that Urumqi City has planned three policies and measures on how to ensure the basic livelihood of the poor people:

The first is to implement social assistance as a basic guarantee for people with low income and no income and other difficulties in life. According to the standard of 300 yuan per person, one-time living assistance will be given.

Second, families renting public rental housing in Urumqi will be exempted from rent for five months for those who have not paid the rent and whose contract has not yet expired; for those who have paid the rent but whose contract has not expired, the lease period will be extended by five months; For guaranteed families whose contracts have expired, if they meet the conditions for lease renewal, when signing a new lease contract, five months’ rent will be reduced or exempted when collecting rent.

The third is to provide a number of public welfare jobs for low-income groups with difficulty in employment. Those who have relevant employment needs can apply to their communities, and Urumqi will make timely and proper arrangements.

Sources:

1. Xinjiang Daily 新疆日报 – 乌鲁木齐市“11·24”火灾四问

https://xjrb.ts.cn/xjrb/20221126/201700.html

2. Xinjiang Daily 新疆日报 – 乌鲁木齐市“11·24”火灾事故新闻发布会实录

https://www.ts.cn/xwzx/shxw/202211/t20221126_10267193.shtml

3. 乌鲁木齐制定专门政策帮扶群困难群体应对疫情影响

http://www.news.cn/local/2022-11/29/c_1129171095.htm

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