About the fire

when they find the person who started the fire that killed 13 people last night, they should take him to downtown Taipei, tie him up about 20 feet in the air and drop him. Then, light him on fire. Give me the match, Ill be happy to be the one who kills the **&+*^!!

Anyone who can do such a thing needs to be tortured… NOT JUST CAPTURED

I really don’t know what’s going on in the world anymore after seeing these kind of things happen…I just want the chance to see the one who did this face to face…

and I don’t even know the victums, so I can’t imagine how the families feel…

Several years ago I saw a Fire engine take about 20 minutes to move 100m because of the lanes were too narrow, and because of parked cars. Luckily that was a just a little garbage fire, noone was hurt. I knew then people would die if nothing was done about it. Nothing was done, sadly I was right.
Also why didn’t the fireman have anything to catch the people who fell while climbing down the ropes ?

when I first saw this news on tv, the first thing I felt was angry at the firefighters for not putting something down there to soften the falls. I mean, if they didnt have anything, everyone should have just layed down…it’s better than just letting them hit the road…

but having lived in Taiwan for years, I actually would HAVE been surprised to see actual competence from the rescuers. Remember last year, when the flood happened and some old people were stuck on a small island in a river for hours, as the tv stations watched, the govermant watched…and nobody called in the helicopters? Those people were on that island for hours…and finally got washed away and drowned on live TV. I have no clue whats going on with the authorities here…

but at least that one was an act of God…this one is much worse because its deliberate!

That’s exactly what I thought, I would think “Oh look, there’s someone climbing down a rope, best put something underneath in case they fall” not “Did you get a good picture of that ?”

Are you referring to the Ba-Chang incident ? The helicopters were called. But the mountain rescue* said it wasn’t in their area and you must call the air force*, then the air force said it wasn’t their job and you must call mountain rescue. Everyone refused to come and help, while everyone was argueing about who must rescue them, they died.

But try telling any Taiwanese that Taiwan is not perfect and that something needs to change…

  • or whoever it was

at home there would be a mat for a start
if not…then firemen would be throwing themselves under the victims to break their fall…NOT stepping back like that. I really hope that there was a crash mat because i couldnt see.
i noticed that the graphics on the news channel were all dramatic
蘆洲大火 big fire in lu zhuo…with flames on their font and in the background.
i want to puke.

That’s why I drink so much…killing brain cells helps to lessen the impact of the reality.

You would think there was some sort of circle blanket that the firemen would have in their inventory. NOPE! Let them crash into the ladders and hope the can save themselves. This is 2003 and there should be something to lessen their fall.

With all this technology Taiwan can produce, can they not even produce something simple for firemen to use to save people falling to the ground?

I wonder if the foreign firemen in Tien Mu have a circle blanket to catch people falling down?

There are foreign firemen in Tianmu?!?! :shock:

According to what I read in the Legal Matters Forum, for a foreigner to do volunteer services without a work permit is illegal. Hence, if there are volunteer firemen in Tienmu (or anywhere else) who are providing services without having the appropriate work permit, then they are illegal!

(I guess the exceptions would be those with “personal” (or “open”) work permits, or those married to local Taiwan citizens who don’t need work permits . . . . . . .)

Luzhou is in Taipei County. THere is a big difference in equipment, facilities, streets, people …etc between Taipei County and Taipei City. County is poorer than City so that in a place like Tienmu or any other part of Taipei City, the rescue would have been a completely different story.

Nevermind all the fire code violations in place all over Taiwan with the metal bars over all the windows and metal cages around the balconies and don’t even get me started on smoke detectors.
Sheesh, will wonders never cease… :unamused:

Why do people need those ugly metal bars on all their windows, anyway? I can understand the need if they’re on the first or second floor, but really - the chances of some cat burglar scaling the apartment building walls with a rope like a rock climber (cuz there usually aren’t any fire escapes) aren’t very likely. I mean, people on the 12th floor still have those metal bars around their balconies - dude, Spiderman is a fictional character.

It’s all the bars on every floor that make the building scalable without spidy powers.

Anyone who can get to the rooftop can rappel down. Just a thought.

Catch-22

Anyway, they’re an eyesore. Other cities around the world have high-rise apartment buildings and don’t feel the need to cover them with metal bars. Really, in an urban area as densely populated, don’t you think the sight of someone hoisting a rope and climbing up the side of building wouldn’t immediately attract attention? This is Taiwan - the streets are still busy with people even at 3 in the morning. Besides, to manage such a feat would require more physical ability and courage than your average Taiwanese criminal can muster – c’mon, anyone up for dangling off the side of a 20-story building?

There are foreign firemen in Tianmu?!?! :shock:[/quote]

Ha, yeah the Tienmu volunteer fire company, a friend of mine belongs. they do some training with the local fire departments but unless i’m remembering wrong they don’t go out to fight fires. they do some charity organizing and beer drinking :slight_smile:

Everybody knows, that something needs to be changed! But with two parties fighting for power and not for the wealth of their country, I don’t see much hope there.
I was told, that at the press conference Lian Zhan and his underdogs were amused by the failure of the firefighters. Yeah…another thing they can reproach the DDP and Ah-Bian for…I don’t think they thought much about the many deads at that moment…

Yep according to one of the newspapers, the alleys were blocked by parked cars. I would have glad tried to catch those people who fell while other’s watched, even knowing I would break some bones or worse, I would have tried to break their fall. Because I don’t believe anything is more valuable than human life, Seems a Taiwanese fireman or policeman wouldn’t do anything unless there’s something in it for them like a reward. Why do Taiwanese think a parking space is more important than a life ? Is this how the Taiwanese show how superior they are ?

At the Lincoln Mansons, the builders were also quite happy to sacrifice 28 lives to save a bit of money.

Catch-22

Anyway, they’re an eyesore. Other cities around the world have high-rise apartment buildings and don’t feel the need to cover them with metal bars. Really, in an urban area as densely populated, don’t you think the sight of someone hoisting a rope and climbing up the side of building wouldn’t immediately attract attention? This is Taiwan - the streets are still busy with people even at 3 in the morning. Besides, to manage such a feat would require more physical ability and courage than your average Taiwanese criminal can muster – c’mon, anyone up for dangling off the side of a 20-story building?[/quote]

Sure you could see them, but if the police are as competent as the fire department seemed to be in this case, you’ll still get robbed.

I just saw this story made it on to CNN last night. Is it going to take international exposure of every one of Taiwan’s idiotic mistakes for anything to get done (like with SARS)? On another note, it’s amazing to me to see the contrast in the behavior of firemen and police officers here as compared with what was seen in New York on 9-11. When I was little, I always thought of firemen and police officers as heroes, and that if I was in trouble, they would help me. Seems like people here have the opposite view … if you need help, DON’T call the police. :?