The causes of fires and explosions originate right within everyday activities and equipment usage habits across households, yet they are frequently neglected. To ensure safety for every individual and family, it is essential to proactively prevent hazards, equip citizens with fire prevention and fighting knowledge and skills, and control risks directly from the grassroots.

In Điện Biên, fragmented mountainous topography, narrow transportation routes, and dispersed populations living far from municipal hubs make it difficult for professional forces to access the scene promptly when a fire or explosion breaks out. A blaze can ignite from simple causes: damaged electrical cords causing short circuits, unmonitored cooking stoves left unattended, flammable objects placed adjacent to heat sources, or electrical circuits operating under overload. Among households combining residential living with commercial activities, common shortcomings include goods and domestic items blocking pathways, electrical wiring and equipment failing to observe safety standards, and improperly arranged firefighting equipment.

Meanwhile, compliance with fire prevention and fighting regulations remains lax. These deficiencies cause fires and explosions that result in severe consequences regarding human life and property. This practical reality demands that proactive fire prevention awareness and the mastery of fire prevention and fighting skills among all citizens serve as vital factors.

Taking proactive fire prevention measures within every family means each individual equips themselves with knowledge, fire prevention techniques, and emergency response skills when a fire occurs, rather than waiting for professional forces to handle every incident. Early detection, sounding alarms to surrounding neighbors, and deploying on-site firefighting appliances help curb fire spread and minimize damage. The “four on-the-spot” principle is applied to strengthen initial handling capacities during fire and explosion emergencies. For highland residential clusters with complex terrain and significant distances to central areas, grassroots fire prevention awareness and household safety must be consistently maintained.

The major challenge in fire prevention and firefighting involves not only outreach and raising awareness among citizens, but also guiding residents in practical firefighting and search and rescue maneuvers. The Fire Prevention, Firefighting, and Search and Rescue Police force under the Điện Biên provincial Police has organized numerous campaigns to disseminate knowledge and provide practical drills in firefighting, rescue, and salvage for residents across neighborhoods, agencies, units, and schools. Fire safety outreach has progressively shifted from basic theoretical knowledge dissemination to hands-on skill training and situational handling. Conducting fire safety checks has become an ingrained personal routine. Community-based firefighting models and fire safety inter-household teams established across various localities have demonstrated positive effectiveness. Only when each family proactively eliminates latent hazards, every person knows how to evacuate safely, and neighboring households are equipped to support one another during emergencies can fire prevention and fighting become truly effective.

After 10 years of executing Directive No.47-CT/TW of the Secretariat on strengthening Party leadership over fire prevention and fighting, the legal framework has been progressively refined; knowledge and skill dissemination has received focused attention; diverse grassroots fire safety models have been built and replicated; and firefighting, search, and rescue operations have been deployed promptly. The effective execution of fire prevention and fighting has helped limit loss of life and property damage. However, in certain localities, fire prevention and fighting work remains subjective and superficial, while compliance awareness among a portion of the public remains inadequate.

From that reality, the Secretariat issued Directive No.02-CT/TW on strengthening Party leadership over fire prevention, firefighting, and search and rescue in the new situation. Directive 02 outlines clearer demands regarding the responsibilities of Party committees, authorities, agencies, and organizations, especially agency heads. Fire prevention, firefighting, and search and rescue must be identified as important, regular mandates bound to the administrative accountability of each tier, sector, and locality.

This requirement demonstrates that fire safety is not solely the task of the specialized Fire Prevention, Firefighting, and Search and Rescue Police, but represents the shared responsibility of the entire political system and society as a whole. Every agency, unit, enterprise, and household serves as a preventive entity; every cadre and Party member must set an example in complying with regulations and mobilizing family members to practice fire safety. When fire prevention awareness becomes an ingrained habit across the community, the efficiency of prevention and mitigation of damages caused by fires and explosions will be significantly elevated.

Consolidating on-site forces, equipping citizens with firefighting and search and rescue skills, and promoting the core role of commune-level police, grassroots authorities, and mass organizations represent practical, effective measures to minimize damage to the lowest level when fire and explosion incidents occur.