->Actively propose countermeasures in face of problems to strengthen the safety assurance of fire service personnel

Firefighters died as a result of a high-rise residential fire in Hsinchu City. An investigation on the disaster accident has commenced by the National Fire Agency (NFA) of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) in accordance with the Fire Service Act. Meanwhile, a number of specific disaster rescue strategies have been put forward one after another, and relevant suggestions from all directions have been actively responded to, so as to strengthen the safety assurance for fire service personnel.

According to the National Fire Agency (NFA), the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) has requested about NT$26 billion from the Executive Yuan for 23 medium-term and long-term programs to subsidize local governments un increasing firefighting equipment and devices, so as to enhance disaster rescue capabilities with science and technology. In terms of enhance disaster rescue with science and technology, in addition to promoting the use of disaster relief robots and drones, indoor positioning equipment has also been approved by the Executive Yuan, where 43 sets of indoor positioning equipment are planned for procurement during the period from 2025 to 2029. With such new equipment, firefighters’ movement trajectory can be instantly identified on the screen of the mobile communications platforms on-board of the 73 command vehicles through the small wireless transmitters equipped on the firefighters’ bodies, which allows the commander to communicate with the firefighters and efficiently grasp the location of firefighters in the building, thus able to provide necessary assistance to the firefighters.

As indicated by the NFA, in order to strengthen on-site command and control, the "Cadres’ Education and Training of Disaster Relief Safety" has been promoted by the NFA since 2024/04, where a total of 8 training sessions were held for cadres ranking Commander and above in the north, central, south, and east Taiwan. Additionally, since 2022, 7 new courses have been launched, including firefighter self-rescue, Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) and Incident Safety Officer (ISO), etc., to comprehensively strengthen the safety training from the management aspect. As for the "National Fire Academy" that is of concern to the society, the NFA has also entrusted a professional team to conduct an assessment in 2023. The assessment report is expected to be completed in 2024, which is to be used as a reference for subsequent policies.

As explained by the NFA, in terms of maintaining public safety of high-rise buildings, the National Fire Agency (NFA) is to work closely with the National Land Management Agency (NLMA) in expanding the joint inspections, promptly completing the bridging of the graphic icon of the declaration report on public safety to the 119- dispatch system, to facilitate field firefighters to quickly grasp the floor plan of the building on fire. situation. Meanwhile, a special project meeting was held by the NDA to discuss with the National Land Management Agency (NLMA) on issues such as ventilation and smoke exhaust design, fireproof filling construction between pipes, and fire compartment.