A gas explosion in the former township of Kaohsiung City in Taiwan caught the attention of the whole country in 14 years ( death pipeline, between life and death – gas explosion in Kaohsiung , Taiwan). According to Taiwan’s “Fire Department” statistics, 24 people were killed and 270 injured, including firefighters Four people died and 22 were injured. This is the most serious casualty gas explosion since the Banqiao gas explosion in New Taipei City, Taiwan, 18 years ago.

The fire rescue of gas explosions in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, is just the tip of the iceberg of fire rescue. The scorching summer is the peak of electricity use, and it is also the frequent season of fire. As a common special-purpose vehicle in daily life, fire engines are currently the main tools used by fire-fighting forces to fight fires. The quality level of fire engines also reflects the level of a country's fire-fighting equipment. What is the firefighting equipment of the fire truck unit today? What are their suggestions for fire engines during use? Recently, the reporter came to a fire engine squadron in Wuhan to understand the use of fire engines.

Imported fire trucks account for the vast majority

The fire engine squadron that the reporter came to this time is located near Gushushu Road in Wuhan. Since the team was established in 1994, the squadron has participated in the Huangpu oil depot, Luxiang Plaza is under construction on a high-rise construction site, and Wujiashan has leaked chlorine. Major fire protection missions have been attacked more than 300 times, and have been awarded by the Ministry of Public Security as “advanced unit for the national police fire-fighting troops duty station duty training”.

Unlike an ordinary fire squadron, the squadron is a fire engine squadron that performs special duties. On the basis of the ordinary squadron, equipped with some "precision" special equipment and equipment to enhance the means of disposal of special disaster accidents. According to the person in charge of the vehicle of the fire squadron, the squadron, in addition to undertaking conventional fire fighting and building collapses, will mainly reinforce the difficult and dangerous tasks that are difficult for the squadrons in various jurisdictions in Wuhan, such as climbing and extinguishing fires, chemical accidents, etc. .

“Fire-fighting equipment is relatively expensive, but disaster accidents do not happen every day, so a small amount of high-end fire-fighting equipment is centralized.” The team leader introduced that the squadron currently has 11 fire engines of large and small size, covering fire-fighting fire engines, There are several major categories such as fire fighting vehicles, high fire fighting vehicles, back-up fire fighting vehicles, and fire-fighting robots. The carrying capacity is light, medium, and heavy. In addition to the 40m liquid-carrying high-emission fire engines, high-power compressed-air foam tank fire engines, and high-power foam vehicles that can be seen by conventional fire squadrons, there are still many unique models in Hubei Province, such as the 101m world's highest fire ladder. Vehicles, earthquake-rescue rescue vehicles, and fire fighting tanks, and even firemen's fire fighting uniforms are all equipped with US-based equipment and are aligned with US firefighting.

Rescue vehicle

In the parking garage of the fire brigade, the reporter found that almost all the parked vehicles were imported equipment, including tops and chassis. According to the person in charge, fire and rescue are very mobile-oriented, so the models they equip are equipped with a low failure rate and a horsepower-based imported chassis. They are biased toward purchasing chassis such as Mann, Scania, Volvo and Mercedes. . In the tops, almost all the firefighters in the industry, such as Boluotuo, Markilus, Schmitz, and Russenboa, gathered in the fire engine industry, especially in the high-firing category. Of course, there are no lack of domestic brands, such as Sichuan Morita, Shaanxi Yinhe, but most models are based on common bubble rescue vehicles and water tankers.

"The domestic car has a relatively high share in ordinary fire squadrons, but for special fires, imported fire engines still have a great advantage."

Domestic cars have a long way to go in terms of user-friendly design and reliability

In the interview, the reporter encountered Lao Wang (a pseudonym) who has been engaged in fire rescue for 18 years. He is currently responsible for the day-to-day management and maintenance of the fire fleet. He told reporters that fire engines that have been used for so many years can clearly feel the progress made in domestic cars, but compared with imported cars, domestic fire engines have great deficiencies in humanity and reliability.

In the garage, Pharaoh showed reporters an earthquake rescue vehicle modified by the German company Schmitz. This car is unique in Central China and shoulders earthquakes in Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Henan provinces. Rescue mission. The vehicle is equipped with special rescue equipment such as communication and search and rescue, hydraulic rescue, rescue roof bracing, on-site warning, explosion-proof non-sparking, on-site detection and explosion testing, and on-site first aid. Although it has been in use for 10 years, this car is no different from the new car in terms of appearance, and the wheel hub and appearance are clean and spotless.

“This car has been in service for 10 years. Valves don't need to be stuffy. You don’t look rusty for so long.” Pharaoh said that compared to domestic fire engines, imported fire engines are superior in terms of details, such as Ladder, pedal detail design will bring convenience to the actual operation. Pharaoh said that they found that the cabs of European and American fire trucks are designed to be wider than the domestic ones. Even if firefighters wore bulky fire suits, they could have plenty of space. What impressed Pharaoh was a Lussenboa compressed air foam fire engine. This car features a hidden ladder and pedals. When the door is opened, the pedals will automatically flip. When the car is in normal driving, it will be inside the side skirt. For a better overall feeling. This car uses a glass door, which can greatly expand the line of sight. Firefighters can observe the outside of the car without getting off the train. The design of the doors is particularly ingenious. No matter if the firefighters are standing at any angle, the doors will not hit people or hurt the car because of rebound or rotation.

“The reliability of the vehicle, the modification process and the operation process, especially the anti-corrosion technology, the domestic fire engines must learn from the imported vehicles.” Lao Wang said that as small as one pipe interface is large enough to pump, many processes of imported fire engines are Can be called art. "Some imported fire engines and even whole vehicles are scrapped, but a nut will not be loose."

"If the imported vehicles are properly maintained, the reliability is still quite high." Lao Wang said that now why the fire brigades like to use imported climbing fire engines, the main reason is that the stability of vehicles is better. High-altitude rescue is a test of human mental abilities. A little bit of shock at high altitude makes people feel scared.

However, imported fire engines also have deficiencies. In addition to the high prices that deter many buyers, the after-sales cycle has become a major criticism. "A lot of imported fire truck companies have not established after-sale stations, and it is difficult to purchase accessories and have a long cycle."

The rising after-sales problem has also brought development opportunities to domestic fire engines. Pharaoh said that from his understanding of the situation, with the continuous leaps in domestic fire truck technology, its share in the fire brigade is on the rise. The gap in the assembly process between leading companies such as Sichuan Morita and Shaanxi Yinhe and foreign fire engines is also decreasing. The squadron currently purchases 5 city championships of Yongqiang Olympus. The car equipped with a compressed air foam system can supply high-efficiency fire-fighting foam to a height of 400 m, plus various new rescue equipment, equivalent to several vehicles. The fire fighting and rescue capabilities of traditional fire trucks minimize the damage caused by fire. From concept to craftsmanship are all in sight.

Voice: Increasing difficulty in fire rescue

On November 15, 2010, a major fire accident occurred at the apartment building at No. 728 Jiaozhou Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, causing 58 deaths, 71 injuries, and direct economic losses of 158 million yuan, which caused the Party Central Committee and the State Council to attach great importance to it.

During the fire, the Shanghai Fire Department dispatched personnel and fire engines were mostly rare in recent years. Policing helicopters and compressed air foam vehicles were used, but the actual results were different from the expected results. Although the fire squadron once held exercises on high-level fires, there were no instances of flammable scaffolding outside the high-rise buildings during the exercise, which also caused great difficulties for the actual fire fighting.

Pharaoh said that the issue of high-level rescue can be said to be a worldwide problem, from fire-fighting equipment to firefighters. “With the continuous development of the domestic economy and urban construction, the tonnage, load, and displacement of fire engines are getting larger and larger, and the requirements for personnel are getting higher and higher. The equipment can be unlimited, but people’s mental capacity is limited. ."

In the more than ten years of his work, his fire squadron had almost a dozen police missions every month. He also participated in the explosion of raw material warehouses of Yangpu Chemical Co., Ltd. in Wuhan Dongxihu District, and several new farms in Wuhan. Extraordinary fire rescue.

“The reconstruction of Wuhan Old City and the subway have brought great pressure on our rescue. Many old communities have no fire exits, and private cars often occupy fire exits. Excessive green belt design may affect the entry of fire engines.” He said that the situation he fears most is that the height of the rescue can be achieved, but the fire fighting channel is blocked.

In addition, the landforms of the many lakes and lakes in Wuhan have also raised the number of ship fires in recent years. Since 2001, the underwater rescue mission has been added to Wuhan's fire and rescue aids. In June 2001, the detachment sent a total of three non-commissioned officers to participate in the first diving training held by the Ministry of Public Security, and was specially equipped with a fireboat.

Rapid reaction boat

“We have several vehicles with the highest attendance rates for rescue vehicles and water tankers, and there are many tasks for social assistance.” Lao Wang said that in order to actively respond to the subway rescue, the squadron is also actively preparing for drills. A high-power smoke evacuation vehicle and fire-fighting robot was introduced in Yinhe, Shaanxi.

“Compared with other places, the number of vicious fire accidents in Wuhan in recent years has been relatively small, mainly because people’s fire-fighting awareness has been greatly improved.” He said that many construction companies in Wuhan have often come to their units for field research. There is a situation of the vehicle model, consider the fire protection of the entire building.

The fire squadron parking garage

"As long as people's awareness of fire protection has increased, our mission will be small." Pharaoh laughed.

This article comes from the "special car", re-edited by China Rescue Equipment Network.