Binjiang Police Affairs

Chapter 1448 - 238: Timely Rain!

Every summer, is a period prone to waterborne fires.Just recently, the "Pinghu 2000," an international tourism passenger ship of Gezhou Dam Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Group Company, set sail from Changyi to Mountain City, carrying 49 passengers, including 35 compatriots from Taiwan. As it navigated to the Juzui section before the Yangtze River Wuxia, a fire broke out in the upper deck restaurant at the stern.

The internal facilities from the fourth to the fifth floor were completely destroyed, and the ship’s framework was deformed. Despite the timely evacuation and rescue, it still resulted in 3 deaths and multiple injuries.

The impact was quite negative, and the superiors were very concerned.

Like every year, several leaders from the Changhang Public Security Bureau Fire Brigade split into teams to inspect the water firefighting management work of each branch.

In previous years, when superiors came to inspect the fire work at the branch, Director Qi was not worried at all.

Because the fire work at the Binjiang Branch was done with distinction, always leading among all branches. The superiors would only praise, not criticize.

For instance, as early as five or six years ago, the Binjiang Branch invested heavily and took the lead in building a professional water firefighting ship. It also organized the first Water Fire Fighting Association in collaboration with the local police.

This year they even successfully joined the China Water Fire Association, transforming the Binjiang Water Fire Fighting Association into the Binjiang Branch of the China Water Fire Fighting Association. This was the first and only one in the Changhang Police System.

The enterprise fire brigades formed by several key enterprises in the jurisdiction are all full-time professional teams. They receive guidance on their operations from the branch’s fire brigade, train almost daily like the firefighting police, and their firefighting equipment is constantly updated. Every year, they conduct joint drills with the Armed Police Jingjiang Fire Rescue Brigade, making them a combat-ready force.

However, this year is not like previous years. Li Mingsheng proved to be a disappointment. After barely extinguishing a waterborne fire, he made a mistake in the investigation and determination of liability for the fire incident and was sued, turning a situation that could have garnered positive attention into a scandal!

Admitting failure is nothing serious; losing the lawsuit and bearing the 500,000 lawsuit fee is not a big deal. The bureau could save on various expenses and strengthen income-generating activities according to the law, eventually covering this deficit, treating it as a costly lesson.

The problem arose during the first trial when we were unhappy with the verdict and requested the brigade to reissue an incident determination.

The brigade trusted the Binjiang Branch so much that they upheld the previous determination based on the reports from the branch.

If you admit defeat, then admit it. Isn’t this leaving the brigade hanging out to dry?

Civilian winning against the government is big news for the media. Not only did several major media report it, but also several experts from the firefighting and legal circles took the branch’s fire brigade’s loss as a classic case study and published articles in academic journals, almost writing this incident into the history of China Fire and legal history.

Getting involved in this muddled affair, the feelings of the brigade leaders are imaginable. Empathy, role reversal, whoever it was would not be happy.

If Salted Fish were at home, he could let Salted Fish handle it, after all, he was the one who insisted on admitting defeat, and the superiors couldn’t do much about him.

But Salted Fish was on a business trip, and would not be back for at least a month.

Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, so Director Qi, Political Commissar Dong, and Deputy Director Li Guangrong could only call on Li Mingsheng, the instigator of all this, to report to the brigade leaders.

If the work is not done well, it needs to be reviewed and reflected upon.

The achievements in the work also need to be reported.

Director Qi picked up the turn to speak, holding the script and pretending to be calm as he read: "President Yu, in recent years, with the development and utilization of the Yangtze River coastline and the increasing number of shipping vessels, the Changhang transportation of Binjiang has flourished, and the throughput of Binjiang Port has increased year by year.

Last year, the combined throughput of the three ports of Binjiang Port Group Co., Ltd. reached 70 million tons. According to the development trend of the past two years and the goals set by the local government, before 2005, Binjiang Port should be able to enter the ranks of the mega ports of over one hundred million tons."

Why are you telling me this? We are talking about water firefighting management right now!

Chief Yu grew increasingly furious, lit a cigarette, and remained silent with a sullen face.

Director Qi stole a glance at Chief Yu and continued: "The economic development has posed higher demands on our branch’s fire supervision and fire suppression efforts. Our branch’s jurisdiction from Jingjiang’s Boundary River to Dongqi’s Yuantuo Cape covers 195.5 kilometers of the Yangtze River coastline, with the widest part of the river being 8 kilometers and the managed water area being 1005.7 square kilometers!

In this region, there are 26 large shipbuilding and repair companies from China and abroad. There are 18 companies involved in oil storage, refining, and deep processing, with an annual throughput of hazardous chemicals exceeding 30 million tons.

According to incomplete statistics from the Maritime Bureau, our branch’s jurisdictional waters see over 3000 foreign and domestic vessels entering, unloading, and transiting daily. Our branch undertakes the fire supervision and management responsibility along such a long coastline and large water area, but the branch’s fire brigade only has 4 firefighting police. Including the fire specialists from several police stations, there are only 8 people."

Political Commissar Dong nodded.

Li Guangrong sighed lightly.

Li Mingsheng kept his head down, taking notes, not daring to look up.

Director Qi put down the draft and said solemnly: "It can be said that in terms of fire supervision and management, we are short of personnel and heavy on tasks. As for the fire supervision and management funds, it’s not insufficient, but rather non-existent. Despite this, we still find ways to fulfill our duties and do a good job in fire management and supervision.

Let’s say this year, since the beginning of summer, there has been one fire on the coastline in the jurisdiction and three fires in the managed waters, with the fire incidence rate down by 80% year-on-year. Furthermore, these four fires were all organized and extinguished at the first instance, causing no casualties and no significant economic loss."