Experts say traditional buildings are difficult to fire, with thousands of households in the Miao village. Witnesses: Small buildings quickly burned down to empty shells. Traditional | Fire | Small buildings

"It's too fast! I can't control it immediately." Li Tong rushed over when he learned that his relative's restaurant was on fire. At the scene of the fire, the fire suddenly intensified within a few minutes, and in a short period of time, it burned down this small building to nothing but an empty shell.

On the noon of July 10th, the Emergency Management Bureau of Leishan County, Guizhou Province issued a notice on this matter. Around 9:50 am on the 10th, a fire broke out in Xijiang Village, Leishan County. After the incident, firefighting, emergency, public security, first aid teams and other forces quickly arrived at the scene to carry out rescue operations. As of around 10:20, the fire has been completely extinguished, and two wooden houses of farmers have been burned.

This accident once again drew attention to the fire safety of historical buildings in their revitalization and utilization. The wooden structure of the "hanging foot buildings" in the Qianhu Miao Village scenic area is stacked layer by layer. If one is not careful, a fire can involve large areas of traditional wooden houses. The reporter learned that Qianhu Miao Village has experienced fires in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Firefighters pulling bed sheets to catch evacuees

At around 10 o'clock on the 10th, Wang Gang received a call from an employee saying "fire is on the other side of the street". He rushed from home to his own store. When he arrived at the scene, he saw the "Nong Restaurant" across the street burning, less than 50 meters away from his shop in a straight line. Thick black smoke was coming out from the eaves of the arch of wooden architecture, and the shop was surrounded by warning lines.

Wang Gang, who was somewhat scared, restored the earlier fire scene from the mouth of the employees.

At first, an employee heard a "crackling" sound from across the street, "like setting off a whip." Upon leaving, they discovered that the building across from them was on fire.

Quickly, a young man and woman were forced onto the eaves of the third floor by thick fireworks. The man threw a bedsheet downstairs, and more than ten firefighters, police officers, and the crowd used the bedsheet to catch the woman and other evacuees. "After the fire breaks out, everyone must go help. We can't just turn a blind eye!" Wang Gang said.

At that time, Li Tong also rushed from afar. When she arrived at the scene, she saw thick smoke coming out of the house. In just an instant, the fire ignited the entire house, and within a few minutes, only the skeleton of the house was left burning. "It's too fast! It's uncontrollable in one go.". She revealed that "Ono Restaurant" is a restaurant jointly owned by relatives and friends. Upon learning that his relatives had survived the disaster, Li Tong exclaimed, "It's okay if you're okay.".

Black smoke permeates the entire scenic area. Image provided by netizen "@ Free Xiaoya's Fish"

Wang Gang told reporters that firefighters reacted quickly and rushed to the scene to extinguish the fire. "The fire was well controlled because he dispatched it immediately and the fire decreased in less than half an hour," Wang Gang said. Another witness claimed that the fire was controlled within a certain range by the fire department and did not affect surrounding buildings; Until now, except for the building where the fire occurred, the surrounding shops have been operating normally.

As of the time of publication, the Emergency Management Bureau of Leishan County, Guizhou Province reported that around 10:20 on the 10th, the fire had been completely extinguished, and two wooden houses of farmers had caught fire, covering an area of 450 square meters. The accident resulted in 6 injuries, and 2 local villagers died in the fire.

Traditional building fire protection poses challenges

An accident has once again drawn people's attention to the fire safety during the revitalization and utilization of historical buildings.

According to Cai Yingji, an expert in cultural relics and historical protected architecture in Shanghai, the traditional construction technique of stilted buildings has been included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. However, an accidental fire can instantly erase the historical value, scientific and artistic value, and other unique traditional wooden structures.

The "Hanging Foot Tower" structure of Miao Village is developed from the foundation of traditional railed architecture, using a wooden structure system with a through bucket style, following the terrain, and cleverly shaped. During construction, whether it is load-bearing large wooden components or decorative small wooden works, the wood used must maintain a low moisture content. After years of use, the moisture content of old wood is even lower after long-term natural drying. This also means that in the event of a fire, the combustion rate of such wooden buildings will be very fast, and the high-temperature smoke and heat are not easily diffused outward, which is highly likely to cause flashover.

In addition, traditional residential buildings grow naturally, and the layout of the site, small fire separation distances, the size and orientation of wooden doors and windows, and narrow fire exits may all lead to the situation of "fire burning camps", which has adverse effects on fire fighting.

Cai Yingji listed the common causes of fires in traditional wooden buildings, including improper use of residential buildings, increased fire loads, as well as accidents such as short circuits in electrical wires and lightning strikes.

She explained that in the actual firefighting process, considering the structure and properties of such buildings, it is difficult to apply the extinguishing method that can "instantly extinguish" open flames in other scenarios to the rescue of these buildings. Therefore, many historical districts prioritize fire safety when making urban renewal or protection plans. Under the premise of maintaining the original historical environment and unchanged street and alley layout in traditional historical districts, adopting technological innovations such as micro fire stations, small fire motorcycles, improving indoor and outdoor sprinkler systems, and fire alarm systems can effectively improve the safety and durability of such buildings.

Cai Yingji believes that in the use of such wooden historical buildings, corresponding measures can be taken for the construction of the building body, including but not limited to the use of fireproof coatings, fireproof paints, and the use of fireproof and flame-retardant materials. But more importantly, both users and managers should have corresponding fire safety knowledge. For the fire hazards in traditional buildings, it is necessary to take preventive measures and strengthen daily inspections and maintenance of fire protection and lightning protection, which should be implemented at all times.