The fire department has added a "safety lock" to the hot performance, and more than 80 large-scale concerts have been held in the World Expo area since the beginning of this year

The Expo area has had another hot weekend. On the evenings of September 8th and 9th, the West City Boys' "Chasing Dreams Across the World" concert held at the Mercedes Benz Cultural Center in Shanghai; A few kilometers away, at the Pudong Development Bank Oriental Sports Center, Ren Xianqi's "Qi Ji · On the Road" concert tour in Shanghai lasted for three days, with tens of thousands of fans from all over the world gathered here, making it extremely popular.

Zhang Jincang and his colleagues, who were almost immersed in the performance venue, were not interested in the exciting performance on stage. Their nerves were highly tense, constantly observing whether the venue equipment and facilities were operating properly, whether fire protection equipment and equipment were placed in their designated positions, whether safety exits and escape routes were blocked, and so on. It was not until the audience left the venue empty that a suspended heart could land.

Zhang Jincang is an engineer from the Expo Brigade of the Pudong New Area Fire Rescue Brigade, and also the liaison officer in charge of the two major performance venues in the Expo area, Mercedes Benz Cultural Center and Pudong Development Bank Oriental Sports Center. The performance was only a few short nights, but the fire protection started a month ago.

In the early approval stage, Zhang Jincang can always be seen holding drawings and carefully discussing with the organizer, from aisle spacing to stage construction materials and mechanical equipment specifications, every detail. During the stage construction phase, Zhang Jincang and his colleagues need to compare each piece of incoming materials with the testing reports and samples provided by the organizer. Fire tests should be conducted on-site on curtains, carpets, flame retardant plywood, etc. to ensure compliance with safety standards.

Zhang Jincang told reporters that on average, each performance requires 4 fire rescue officers, 6-8 personnel from the museum's micro fire station, and 10 third-party fire security personnel to supervise the fire safety of the entire performance.

The eye-catching stage effect in the eyes of the audience is often a key area of fire safety hazards. Zhang Jincang gave an example, for example, the smoke effect on stage is usually produced by a dry ice machine or a range hood. The burnt smell produced by the latter during normal use is very similar to the smell of a short circuit fault, and needs to be carefully distinguished; For example, the tail of the commonly used spotlight on stage may generate a lot of heat, which may pose a safety hazard. After a performance, the huge venue always had to go around three or four times. Zhang Jincang joked, "Others watch the stage to appreciate the performance, and we all think about circuits when we watch the stage."

As the closest fire brigade to the Mercedes Benz Cultural Center, Zhoudu Fire Station undertakes security tasks in three stages: research and guidance, on-site defense, and rear combat support during each large-scale performance. It is the entire process defense force that runs through the entire large-scale event.

Before the start of the event, the fire prevention and extinguishing forces of the team station conducted in-depth research and inspection at the venue, relying on corresponding card style contingency plans, combat information cards, business papers, etc. to conduct on-site inspections, familiarization, and fire drills. Synchronize the use of intelligent decision-making terminals and visual mobile phones to build a dual inspection system of on-site inspection and intelligent cloud, effectively providing strong support for security tasks. At the event site, the team and station will send mobile forces according to the actual situation such as the scale of the event and the flow of people, cooperate with the supervisor in charge to stay on guard throughout the whole process, and carry T5 foam fire extinguishing devices and fire water mist to ensure that the fire will be extinguished as soon as possible in case of danger.

Since the beginning of this year, the offline performing arts market has experienced a strong recovery, and the Expo area where performing arts venues gather is even more prominent. As of now, more than 80 large-scale concerts have been held within the jurisdiction of this year's World Expo. The high-frequency activities, high-density pedestrian flow, and high standards of standards have brought huge opportunities to the World Expo area, but also put forward extremely high requirements for fire safety and security in the region.

At present, the first commercial and cultural complex in Shanghai that integrates four major formats: performing arts, commerce, office, and hotel, Qiantan 31, will also open in all formats at the end of October this year. The performing arts center with 2500 seats is the largest professional indoor theater in Shanghai.

Including the Mercedes Benz Cultural Center and the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Oriental Sports Center, Zhang Jincang and his colleagues will take on more arduous work tasks, but his words show joy: "It shows that the World Expo performance is becoming more and more prosperous, creating a safe environment for everyone to enjoy happy time, and we are also happy."

Text: Zhang Shihuan

Image provided: Mercedes Benz Cultural Center, World Expo Brigade, Pudong New Area Fire Rescue Brigade

*Reprinted from official WeChat account released by Pudong