70-meter-high ladder fire truck and modern fire scene investigation vehicle opened in Zhushi

A new 70-meter-high ladder truck was put into use in Bamboo City. (Photo by reporter Cai Zhangsheng)

The Hsinchu City Fire Department held the "Ladder Fire Truck Launching Ceremony and Fire Protection Police 345 Drill" today. Mayor Gao Hongan attended to witness the simultaneous launch of three new ladder fire trucks and a modern fire scene investigation vehicle. Among them, the ladder fire truck has a maximum operating height of 70 meters, which can strengthen the fire rescue capabilities of high-rise buildings. In 2015, the city government combined a subsidy of 74.65 million yuan from the Fire Department of the Ministry of Interior and a 55.05 million allocated by the city government, and invested a total of 131.5 million yuan to purchase three ladder fire trucks, all of which have been delivered. In addition, with a subsidy from the Fire Department, a total of 4 million yuan was invested to purchase a modern fire scene survey vehicle to further improve the efficiency of fire scene investigations and post-disaster convenience services.

Gao Hongan said that Hsinchu City has more than 200 high-rise buildings with more than 16 floors under management, especially in densely populated areas such as Guanpu. Fire safety in high-rise buildings is a continued focus of the city government. After the three new ladder fire trucks are put into service this time, the fire station can flexibly dispatch suitable vehicles according to the height of the building, surrounding environment and on-site disaster relief needs, improving high-altitude rescue and fire-fighting capabilities outside the building.

Gao Hong'an pointed out that in addition to strengthening front-line fire-fighting and disaster relief capabilities, the city government has also simultaneously improved post-disaster fire investigation and convenience services. The modern fire scene investigation vehicle launched this time has a total cost of 4 million yuan (a subsidy of 845,000 yuan from the Fire Department and a cooperation allocation of 3.155 million yuan from the city government). It integrates the functions of "operation office" and "operation laboratory", allowing fire investigators to conduct investigation, forensics and administrative operations at the scene. Considering that Hsinchu City is a national semiconductor technology center with diverse industrial types and a wide range of chemical substances, and the fire scene may involve complex substances, the vehicle is specially equipped with a portable Raman spectrometer, which can instantly preliminarily screen suspicious liquids and improve the efficiency of on-site identification. Independent power supply equipment and a private recording space are also installed to maintain basic operational needs even if there is a power outage on site.

In addition, the fire scene survey vehicle has also been introduced into the post-disaster convenience service mechanism. After completing the on-site investigation, fire rescue personnel can directly take photos of the information in the car, verify their identities, and issue "fire certificates" on-site through mobile computers and portable printers. This implements the agency's proactive services, reduces the inconvenience of the disaster-stricken people from traveling to and from the agency to apply for documents, assists the people in speeding up post-disaster matters such as insurance claims, tax exemptions, etc., and extends firefighting services from disaster rescue to subsequent reconstruction and life assistance.