Blazes reignite debate on firework ban
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A rise in the number of fire accidents during the Spring Festival holiday has prompted a new round of debate over proposals to readopt firework bans in China's largest cities.
From Feb 2 to Feb 8, 11,813 fire accidents took place across the country, causing 40 deaths, 37 injuries and more than 56 million yuan ($8.5 million) in economic loss, the Ministry of Public Security reported on its website on Wednesday.
And that figure did not include the first fire of the Year of the Rabbit. That blaze ignited in the early morning of Feb 3 and caused 3 billion yuan in damage to a 152-meter-high building in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province.
Two days later, a forest fire caused by fireworks left six dead and three injured in Zhejiang province's Chun'an county.
And on Monday, fireworks kindled a 1,000-year-old Buddhist temple in Fuzhou, capital of East China's Fujian province.
In Beijing, two were killed and 388 injured by firecrackers during the Spring Festival holiday, the firework management office of Beijing reported on Tuesday.
"With such a high population density and so little precipitation this winter, allowing fireworks to be shot off in cities is the same as letting thousands of people play with fire at the same time," Shi Shusi, a senior journalist said in his blog. He suggested that the Beijing government consider readopting its former prohibition on the use of fireworks.
Cities that kept the prohibitions, meanwhile, haven't necessarily achieved their goals. Despite the existence of a fireworks ban in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province, illegal pyrotechnics led to 30 forest fires on Feb 2.
Some argue repealing the prohibition would only lead to worse results.
