"The fire and dense smoke in burning buildings may result in firefighters losing their bearings and inadvertently suffering injury, by falling down a flight of stairs, for example," Du said, adding that buildings collapse after being on fire for a long period, which poses an even greater threat to those tackling blazes.

On Jan 2, an eight-hour fire in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, caused an 11-story building to collapse without warning, killing five firefighters of ages 18 to 22. Access to the building had been blocked by a number of obstacles and led to delays in help arriving.

Initial investigations suggested that the fire had been caused by the unauthorized use of a large number of high-capacity heaters that overloaded the local grid, according to media reports.

"It's so difficult to predict when a collapse will occur, so people shouldn't blame the onsite commanders," said Jin Hongyu, a professor at the Fire Command Department of the Chinese People's Armed Police Forces Academy.

He urged the establishment of a national fire-emergency mechanism, and said all senior commanders should be well trained, fully aware of modern firefighting methods, and have long practical experience, especially in emergency drills, to improve efficiency and reduce the number of casualties.

Greater awareness required

To tackle these issues, the Ministry of Public Security recently conducted a thorough investigation into fire hazards in key areas.

The risk of fire increases during periods such as Spring Festival, when billions of yuan are spent on fireworks, and large numbers of people gather in public places for celebrations, traditional ceremonies, shopping and entertainment, according to Yang Jianming, the political commissar at the ministry's fire control bureau.

"We focused on investigating the hidden risks, including faulty or broken alarms and extinguishers, to prevent major fires breaking out. We also looked at ways to improve evacuation techniques in key places such as shopping malls, entertainment venues, restaurants and tall buildings," he said.

The ministry will also improve and update training for firefighters, while ensuring that local public security departments, communities and volunteers organize evacuation drills for residents so they will learn how to protect themselves if a fire starts, he said.

Li Yinqing, a researcher at the China Academy of Building Research, called for a wider range of early stage preventive measures. "Fire prevention should be considered when cities and buildings are being planned. Urban construction and fire safety need to develop together."

When high-rise buildings are under construction, the interior design should include a number of "asylum rooms" constructed from inflammable materials, powerful ventilation systems and dedicated pipelines to allow water to be carried to any part of a building in the event of fire, he said.

The authorities are also aiming to slash the number of incidents and injuries by improving education to raise public awareness of fire prevention and teach people how to escape from burning buildings, he added.

Dai, of the Shuangyushu Brigade, said that in recent years many urban residents have improved their awareness, and some have even helped firefighters to extinguish blazes.

"We have discovered that many young people are actually quite professional in terms of fire prevention and control," he said. "We hope a larger number of people will undertake training programs, and that companies will carry out regular fire drills to eliminate risks. Ultimately, we would like to see businesses and individuals assume greater responsibility to ensure that fewer fires start."

Contact the writers at zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cnand wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn