The family of Qiao You's case ended in a sit-in in exchange for a meeting and promised to call on all walks of life to continue to pay attention to the establishment of the monument

Text / Gongku reporter Hong Yuzeng

At the same time as the press conference, other members and family members of the association also went to the Changhua County Library to raid the county magistrate, Wang Huimei. Before Wang stepped into the venue of the children's award ceremony, they rushed forward to block the way and asked Wang Huimei to express her position on the establishment of the monument. Wang did not say a word, and other personnel and the police kept the family members away, and then quickly entered the scene.

The members who originally held the press conference in front of the county government also moved to the front of the Changhua County Library and continued to shout at the venue. Chen Zhifan's sister Chen Yizhu strongly criticized Wang Huimei for not facing or responding to her family's demands and turning a blind eye, especially when the results of the disaster investigation report of the Ministry of the Interior came out in May this year, which clearly pointed out that the Changhua County Fire Department, the Construction Department and the Urban View Department have some differences. Missing, the county government should face up to the negligence rather than escape.

Some people at the scene shouted at the protesters: "There is an event inside today, what do you mean by protesting? The children are giving awards inside!" Zhu Zhiyu, secretary-general of the Consumer Promotion Association, responded: "The children's awards are only once, we I know, but the firefighters who died on the line only have one life! The event can be held many times, but the death of a person is only once!” He also criticized the police at the scene for showing no respect for their families. The whole raid took about 30 minutes, during which the police held Three times, and called on the protesters not to interfere with the county governor's itinerary.

Due to the lack of response to the appeal that day, the Consumer Promotion Association and the family members immediately launched a sit-in activity. Although Shi Shunren, the fire chief of Zhang County, attended the scene that afternoon and was concerned, he did not provide a specific meeting certificate. After a 28-hour sit-in, the next day (6/29) afternoon, Cai Fubin, secretary of the Zhang County Fire Department, personally delivered the meeting notice to the family members, and the sit-in finally ended.

Zhu Zhiyu, secretary-general of the Consumer Promotion Association, emphasized that the memorial meeting and discussions from the time of the incident to the present were all from the family's efforts to win over the county government. The monument incident as the starting point of fire reform.

How difficult is it to erect a monument one year after the death in the line of duty?

The Qiaoyou fire occurred on the evening of June 30, 2021. The fire lasted for nearly 9 hours and spread to the "Passion Fruit Hotel" located in the same building as an epidemic prevention hotel, causing a total of 4 deaths and 21 injuries. Among the dead were three residents of the epidemic prevention hotel and Chen Zhifan, a member of the Eastern Division of the Changhua County Fire Department.

"I hope we, Zhifan, will be the last to die in the line of duty. There will be no more deaths in the fire industry, and more reforms must be carried out." Completing the monumental appeal, etc., let more people know about the incident and the importance of fire protection reform. Unfortunately, a year later, not only did they hold a formal meeting with the Zhang County Fire Department, but there was no news about the follow-up commitment to erecting the monument.

Zhu Zhiyu mentioned that after the incident, the Ministry of the Interior launched a disaster accident investigation and announced the results of the investigation in May this year. However, at the county government level, the family members kept holding press conferences to raise their demands for the monument. This year, they finally managed to hold a meeting with the Zhang County Fire Department on May 9. During the process, the Changxian Fire Department stated that the content of the inscription on the monument and related demands should be discussed with the county government again. As for the family's request for the monument to be erected at Changhua Railway Station, there may be difficulties such as difficulty in obtaining land.

Since the square in front of the railway station is owned by the Changhua Municipal Office, the family members and the Consumer Promotion Association also worked actively, and held a meeting with the Municipal Office on May 19 to discuss. At that time, the Zhang Municipal Office stated that it was willing to promote the establishment of the monument and agreed to open the square in front of the railway station. Zhu Zhiyu mentioned that after the family conveyed the results of the office meeting to the county government, they received a reply from the county government on June 16, saying that since there is no precedent for erecting a monument in the square in front of the railway station in China, and there may be management and maintenance in the future. And other issues.

At the same time, the official document pointed out that the fire department has been asked to set up a "commemorative park for dead firefighters" at the training center in Zhushan, Nantou, and to hold regular memorial activities. The third point of the official document even mentioned that on March 29 this year, Chen Zhifan had been enshrined in the Martyr's Shrine. Facing the reply letter from the fire department, Chen Yizhu asked, "The county government is telling us that they have done their best, right?"

Zhu Zhiyu strongly criticized that the family members chose to erect the monument in front of the Changhua Railway Station mainly because they hoped to be closer to the Qiaoyou Building, where the incident occurred, or in a place with a lot of people, so that the monument could serve the function of "warning future generations". In particular, the Qiao You case is the most serious public safety incident in Changhua in recent years, and affects all aspects of Changhua's fire protection reform, high-rise building construction management, etc. In early June this year, the Changhua County Council passed the "Changhua County Apartment Building Guidance Management Autonomy Regulations" , ​Future apartment buildings must carry out fire drills, escape courses, fire safety inspections and other measures. Zhu Zhiyu emphasized: "'Establishing a monument' also represents the starting point of the reform of public security!"

In the face of the fire department's reply, Zhu Zhiyu said that no one would object to the Zhang County Fire Department's request for the Fire Department of the Ministry of the Interior to set up a "commemorative park for dead firefighters" at the Zhushan Training Center. However, Chen Zhifan was a native of Changhua and died here. A monument should be erected in Changhua. In addition, even if a memorial park is set up in the future, the training center is a controlled area, and when the general public cannot enter and visit, how should they know the whole story of the death in the line of duty? Zhu Geng pointed out that the local fire department was completely unable to command the central fire department, so the proposal made by the fire department was nothing but empty promises.

Chen Yizhu also mentioned that since the fire department and the county government have not proposed any plan, and the fire department's willingness to hold meetings to discuss is negative, the family members invited designers to assist in the design of the monument image. Helpless, the Zhang County Fire Department and the county government kept shouting to the family that "we will discuss it again", but they turned out to put forward more reasons to oppose the erection of the monument.

The family criticized the Suzhang County Government for not facing up to the mistake and calling on all walks of life to continue to care about the follow-up development

Chen Zhifan's family also mentioned in the statement that there are many flaws in the case of death in the line of duty, including the illegal operation of the business owner, the incapacity and serious negligence of various bureaus of the county government, which led to the death of the line case. The family hopes that the relevant units should punish the officials who were negligent at the time, so as to avoid the recurrence of regrets.

Li Zongwu, vice-chairman of the Consumer Promotion Association, mentioned that the past case of death in the Taoyuan Xinwu fire and the current case of Qiao You's death in Changhua are in fact "a common cause of history", which has repeatedly highlighted the lack of equipment, manpower, and excessive working hours for firefighters. question. In addition to commemorating the event, the monument is also meant to educate the public.

Zhu Zhiyu also pointed out that since the incident, even if the investigation report of the disaster investigation committee is released, the county government has not made a statement. Only last year, the county government transferred the acting fire chief Qiu Congjia and the acting construction director Chen Weihong to the positions of deputy director of the fire department and deputy director of the construction department, respectively. In response, Zhu asked, "Is the county government punishing or perfunctory?"

In order to let the public continue to pay attention to the monument erection, the association and family members invited members of various parties from Changhua County and the general public to participate in the monument erection joint signature activity. Since the launch of the monument establishment on June 20, more than 400 signatures have been completed. The association stated that the joint signing activity will continue, and today (7/1) will also hold a "Death in Duty Party" in front of Changhua Railway Station.

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