China's firemen saved 4,775 people from fires last year

China's fire fighters rescued 4,775 people and saved properties valued at 2.14 billion yuan (270 million U.S. dollars) last year, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

About 574,000 firemen were dispatched in emergency callouts and put out 67,000 fires last year, showed the ministry's statistics.

The government has long been concerned about the severe shortage of fire brigades in rural areas.

In September last year, it was reported that 95 percent of rural towns had no full-time fire fighters.

Fires in rural areas, however, account for more than 60 percent of China's total fires and more than 65 percent of fire casualties each year.

The ministry said that in the fourth quarter of last year, local governments organized 731 new full-time fire squads with 9,091 personnel. Companies and public institutions also set up 39 new professional fire brigades with 600 members. An additional 7,479 voluntary fire-fighting crews were set up in rural areas with more than 59,000 part-time members.

Fire-fighting teams were ordered to be established in all 37,000 towns by 2010, said an official with the ministry.

It is planned that the country will have 8,963 full-time government fire-fighting squads by 2010, with more than 120,000 professional personnel and 13,000 fire engines. Fire teams owned by enterprises and public institutions will rise to 3,663, with 73,000 members and 8,126 vehicles. Rural areas will have 300,000 voluntary fire fighting teams, with more than 3.45 million part-time members and 47,000 fire trucks.

Full-time squads will be established through public recruitment, while the part-time teams will be comprised mainly of local police.

Local governments will pay the salaries of full-time fire fighters and subsidize voluntary members, according to the ministry.

Provincial governments are ordered to raise funding to

poverty-stricken areas to help with fire-fighting and prevention work, the ministry said.

Nearly 223,000 fires occurred in China last year, leaving 1,517 people dead and 1,418 injured, showed the ministry's statistics.

The number of fires was down 5.6 percent from the previous year, the death toll was down by 39.3 percent and the number of injured dropped 43.5 percent.

Source: Xinhua