Only about 10 minutes after receiving news of a fire at a motorbike repair shop on the evening of September 28, 2025, at house number 145B, Residential Group 11, Điện Biên Phủ ward, Điện Biên province, the provincial Police Department’s Police Division of Fire Fighting, Fire Prevention and Rescue timely dispatched 6 vehicles and 40 officers and soldiers to the scene to participate in firefighting. Although after about 15 minutes, the fire was controlled and completely extinguished, the “fire” had also “managed” to burn down many furniture and valuable assets in the house.

Not only the above fire, many fires occurring in the provincial area recently have proven the saying “distant water cannot put out a nearby fire.” Because no matter how hard they try, the actions of the fire prevention and fighting force cannot prevent fires from happening but only limit part of the damage caused by fires. Statistics from December 15, 2024 - December 14, 2025, show the whole province had 17 fires, with estimated property damage of over VND 2.2 billion.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Văn Thưởng, Head of the Police Division for Fire Fighting, Fire Prevention and Rescue, in reality, not every fire that just occurs can have the professional firefighting force present immediately. At these times, the on-site firefighting force plays a very important role, because this is the first force to access the scene and is the on-site force that can well resolve firefighting tasks at the grassroots level when the fire just arises according to the “4 on-site” motto.

Clearly identifying this key role, besides promoting dissemination work, the Police Division for Fire Fighting, Fire Prevention and Rescue has actively coordinated and strengthened training and fostering of fire fighting, fire prevention and rescue professional skills for the contingent of officers, employees, and people participating in civil defense teams and grassroots fire prevention and fighting teams.

In 2025, the Police Division for Fire Fighting, Fire Prevention and Rescue organized 39 professional fire prevention and fighting training classes for over 3,620 participants; 22 practical experience sessions on fire prevention, fighting, and rescue skills with a total of 12,242 participants. At the same time, coordinated to organize 57 sessions of disseminating knowledge, skills, and practical experience in firefighting and rescue for 31,115 turns of officials, civil servants, public employees, teachers, students, and people in the whole province.

Taking prevention work as the main focus, the Police Division for Fire Fighting, Fire Prevention and Rescue also maintains and promotes the effectiveness of many fire prevention and fighting models in residential areas. From the “Public Firefighting Point” model deployed since September 2023, 58 public firefighting points have been installed near the houses of 58 officers and soldiers of the Police Division for Fire Fighting, Fire Prevention and Rescue in the area of Điện Biên Phủ ward and Mường Thanh ward. Each firefighting point is equipped with a technical box containing basic fire prevention and fighting tools such as fire extinguishers, hammers, pliers, crowbars... helping people easily access and use them when fire and explosion incidents occur.

Trần Thanh Bắc, a resident of Điện Biên Phủ ward, said: “My family lives in a narrow, deep, densely populated alley area, where specialized fire trucks have difficulty accessing. After the public firefighting point was installed on the street, I was guided on skills to use fire extinguishers to put out fires, escape skills...”

Up to now, the “Public Firefighting Point” has been replicated to 222 points throughout the province. In addition, the Police Division for Fire Fighting, Fire Prevention and Rescue continues to promote the operational efficiency of 231 “Joint Group for Fire Safety” models, 125 “Fire Safe School” models, and over 1,094 “Fire Safety Bell” models.

Focusing on building and constantly replicating on-site fire prevention and fighting models and networks in the province has promoted clear efficiency in practice. Statistics and analysis show that among 17 fires occurring in the past year, over 50% were proactively detected and timely extinguished right from the beginning by the grassroots-level fire prevention and fighting force, civil defense force, and the masses, thereby significantly minimizing damage to people and property.

Lessons learned after each fire and explosion show that the responsibility for fire and explosion prevention and fighting does not belong solely to the functional forces, but is the common responsibility of the whole society. Only when every citizen, every household, every production and business establishment, and every agency and enterprise truly raises awareness, proactively implements preventive measures, and considers fire prevention and fighting work as a regular task, will fire and explosion prevention and fighting work achieve sustainable efficiency.