On the morning of January 9, a fire broke out in Dongpo Mall on Bawang Road, Zhongxian District, Chongqing. After evacuating students, the principal of a middle school next door organized the school leaders to take turns lifting water guns to assist in controlling the fire, which lasted for several hours.
According to witnesses, the fire was not too big at the beginning, and the open fire had not floated out of the window, but the fire extinguishers were unable to penetrate the fire scene at the first time, and the fire spread quickly. At the worst, "I can't see the road clearly, and the whole city feels like black smoke."
According to witnesses, the first floor of the building on fire was a shop with a residential building above it. After the incident, a resident was taken to the hospital by an ambulance for treatment due to inhalation of thick smoke.
In a video provided by Slow News readers, a plainclothes man holding a water gun is assisting the fire fighting. Upstream News·Chongqing Evening News Slow News reporters found these plainclothes men. They were a group of school leaders led by Chen Shiting, principal of Zhongzhou Middle School, including Li Wuhai, Vice Principal Cheng'an, Director Chen Jun, Deputy Director Gan Fuguo, Director Li Fangjiu, etc.
It is understood that after evacuating students and ensuring the safety of the school, these enthusiastic teachers use the convenience of the school’s geographical location to assist in fire fighting and extinguishing fires. They installed ladders on the roof of the boys' dormitory to connect the water belt from the fire hydrant, and took turns to lift two water guns to help put out the fire. This took several hours to control the flames at the left end of the mall in the second floor.
The fire also affected the school next door. Chen Shiting, principal of Zhongzhou Middle School, said that after the incident, they urgently evacuated the personnel in the student dormitory and faculty dormitory near the fire. The fire was still burning in the afternoon, and the school was powered off and gas was cut off to prevent the softening of the concrete walls and the collapse of the houses, which affected the safety of teachers and students in the school's boys' dormitory and staff dormitory. The leaders of the Zhong County Education Commission conducted the on-site command and evacuated the school students during holidays.
Some local hotels spontaneously provide accommodation for residents who are unable to return home due to the fire. A local "harmonious hotel" was not open to the public in the afternoon, and all rooms were vacated. As of 6:30 pm, 16 residents have been arranged to check in for free. The boss said there are no rooms, but there are still several related hotels, and if there are still needs, they will be provided to neighbors for free.
Weibo screenshot
The reporter then learned from the Zhong County People's Government News Office that a fire broke out in a residential building on Bawang Road, Zhongzhou Street, Zhong County at around 11:20 am on January 9. County Party Secretary Lai Jiao and County Mayor Jiang Xia rushed to the scene to direct the rescue as soon as possible, quickly activated the emergency plan, and relevant departments organized personnel to urgently put out the fire in an emergency. The Municipal Fire Brigade promptly coordinated the firefighting forces in surrounding districts and counties to participate in the rescue, properly resettle the affected people, evacuate nearby residents, and asked relevant experts to conduct real-time monitoring of the damage to the affected houses.
As of 17:30, a total of 28 trapped people were searched and rescued and 22 were sent to the hospital (due to choking smoke, no life-threatening). At present, the open flame has been completely extinguished and the cause of the fire is under further investigation.
Chongqing Evening News·Slow News National Breaking News Hotline: (023)966988
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Upstream News·Chongqing Evening News reporter Xia Xiangzhou
