HCM CITY— An inspection team of officials from the construction and public security ministries and HCM City’s People’s Committee yesterday examined fire safety measures in apartment buildings and high-rise buildings in the city.

Major General Đoàn Việt Mạnh, head of the Ministry of Public Security’s Fire and Rescue Police Department, led the team to conduct unscheduled inspections at facilities with a high risk of fire.

The facilities were informed about the visits only 30 minutes before the teams arrived.

At the Giai Việt Apartment Building on Tạ Quang Bửu Street in the city’s District 8, the team discovered infrastructure limitations affecting firefighting.

They said the apartment building had no management board and lacked records on firefighting equipment.

The fire alarm system (water sprinklers) did not meet requirements to prevent fire from spreading, and many objects obstructed the way out of the building’s basement.

Major Trần Hải Nam from the Fire and Rescue Police Department said that fire alarms and automatic water sprinklers in the building were not set properly and some firefighting equipment was not in good condition.

Some residential apartments were converted to business purposes and contain goods, while others had doors opening towards the corridor which can hinder people from escaping, he said.

Mạnh asked the building owner to set up an apartment management board, begin training courses for firefighters, improve management and supervision of the basement, and quickly handle the changed purposes of some apartments, and fix damaged equipment and signs.

The team will continue to conduct unscheduled inspections at buildings in the city.

HCM City is one of seven localities in the country holding unscheduled inspections of fire-safety regulations in buildings. — VNS