It seems that even in Japan things like this can happen
It’s sad this happens still anywhere, as the I saw in the news now. It’s an local and worldwide issue, hope Taiwan checks it older homes better with another big fire in Pingtung.
Bit of a grim coincidence to see this thread bumped. Rode past the remains on my bicycle yesterday with my wife. Of course I got the usual admonishment of “no pictures” or the ghosts will follow us home…
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There was another one just last week in Philadelphia.
Another fire, same issues…
Didn’t they promise countrywide inspections to avoid this?
https://twitter.com/taiwanplusnews/status/1500754374607446016
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Terrible. Taichung’s mayor should be enforcing the clear stairwell rule—not just making sympathy visits to the hospital after the fire! 
Guy
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差不多
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I was surprised to see this one as the building looked like it was in ok shape, unlike the haunted house in Kaohsiung.
The tweet is gone.
Fixed it. They double posted on Twitter and removed the one I linked.
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… the building belonged to a woman in her 70s surnamed Chuang (莊), and had been converted from a hotel into more than 40 studio apartments.
To augment her rental income, Chuang took in large quantities of materials to recycle, which she stored on the first floor and in the stairwells of the building, leading to multiple complaints from area residents.
… city records showed that Chuang had received 24 public safety-related fines in the last two years due to conditions in the building, and was charged with endangering public safety late last year.
The bureau said that it had also been sending personnel twice a month to remove garbage from the building, most recently on March 4, only two days before the fire.
During the most recent visit, workers cleared out a total of 1,120 kilograms of garbage and recyclables, filling three trucks.
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Guy
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Reading the article, it kept getting worse. Such negligence… inveterate trash hoarder.
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That landlord should be charged with negligent manslaughter.
It’s Taiwan though so I would not be surprised if she was given a minor sentence commutable to a fine.
Guy
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Words escape me…so much garbage.
Despite seeing people on the sixth floor trying to escape, firefighters were initially unable to deploy their aerial ladders, as cars parked on both sides of the street prevented them from putting down outriggers to stabilize their trucks, he said.
Maybe this should be taken into consideration when looking at the roads…I remember being told a story about Feng Chia night market where the night market kept expanding closer and closer to the school…the road got so narrow that when a fire broke out the fire trucks couldn’t get in there…
Apparently was part of the reason Feng Chia decided to give up some of their property to widen the rode even though it’s been so long after the fact.
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People treat stair wells as their personal closet… Had lived in buildings where some floors were impassable without an elevator because of this… shoes, boxes, bikes, etc. all cluttered up the stair well.
These seriously need to be enforced.
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Expect more developments. Apparently, as per local news, one tenant was harboring a goat in the premises. He had an argument about that with the landlady. Guess who’s being pinned for arson?
As to the landlady…well, there is this generation that just can’t have enough. It is not greed, it is fear. I mean, she owned the building and lived in that filth. She’s uneducated enough to take an elevator during a fire…
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We live on the 12th floor. I gave up on keeping the stairwells clear years ago and just bought a professional high rise fire escape rope and harnesses set.
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We had a fire downstairs and the firemen had trouble getting in because of the scooters. Got the scolding of a lifetime but the neighbors listened.
That was like 7 years ago. To this day, passage is clear.
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