Hongjiang Ancient Mall in Huaihua City, a “three-dimensional commercial epic” with pine and fir wood as its backdrop, has more than 380 ancient buildings shining brightly for years, but also like dry classics, hiding a huge fire crisis—the connected eaves are the “highway” of the fire, and the narrow alleys are the “roadblocks” for rescue.
How to protect this ‘Xiangxi Pearl’? Hongjiang’s answer is to build a three-dimensional protective network of “civil defense+technical defense+institutional defense” and build a modern firewall for the millennium mall.
Working together to build the first protective net
The most cutting-edge force in guarding the ancient mall is people. There is a special team active here—the dedicated fire brigade of the ancient mall, who are the “ancient city guards” on standby 24 hours a day. Accompanying them in battle are also fire safety supervisors composed of the district cultural relics office and the district law enforcement brigade. They jointly woven the first line of defense for the ancient mall: twice daily patrols covering every corner of the deep alleys; weekly special inspections focusing on key areas such as electrical and fire safety; conduct a comprehensive inspection once a month without leaving any blind spots to nip hidden dangers in the bud.
On a late autumn evening last year, team member Xiong Chao, relying on this frequent daily inspection, keenly smelled the burnt smell on the first floor of No. 3 Baby Care Lane—a discarded cigarette butt from a tourist had ignited dry debris. He quickly extinguished the initial flames and prevented the fire from spreading along the wooden eaves. Guarding the ancient mall is also an action of the whole nation. At nodes such as “Safety Production Month” and “Cultural and Natural Heritage Day”, fire drills are being conducted in ancient alleys, and fire safety classes are being held under the eaves.
These activities have nurtured duty “guardians” like scenic guide Yu Wenqian. She not only remembers safety by herself, but also cleverly integrates fire safety knowledge into the commentary, using vivid examples to remind tourists to pay attention to fire safety. In 2024, she also participated in the recording of a fire public welfare promotional video organized by the Huaihua Fire Brigade. With her professional explanation ability and friendly image, she narrated the boring fire knowledge, making “cigarette butts never fall, ancient architecture will continue forever” a consensus here.
Technology weaves a web, putting “armor” on ancient buildings
Faced with the natural weakness of fire prevention in ancient malls, Hongjiang chose technological means to make up for it. The dilemma of “sighing at the sight of fire” has gradually changed: the criss crossing fire pipe network is like a new “lifeline” laid in the ancient alley, new outdoor fire hydrants are scattered everywhere, water hoses and dry powder fire extinguishers are within reach, and the newly built fire water pool ensures sufficient reserves of “life-saving water”.
The warning system has also been equipped with technological wings: all national level cultural heritage buildings have been fitted with sensitive “ears”—automatic fire alarm systems; other ancient buildings are equipped with independent smoke detectors that do not miss any suspicious smoke. It is precisely this sensitive set of “ears” that has made great achievements at the end of 2021. At that time, a resident in the ancient mall forgot to turn off the electric fire box while going out, and the high temperature ignited the surrounding clothes. In a critical moment, the independent smoke alarm immediately emitted a sharp buzzing sound. Nearby merchants immediately checked and called the dedicated fire brigade of the ancient mall upon hearing the alarm. Firefighters arrived at the scene within 2 minutes and accurately located the fire source based on the sound source of the alarm, quickly extinguishing the initial fire. The entire disposal process took only 5 minutes, with a burnt area of less than 1 square meter, and valuable wooden components were preserved. Ms. Gao, a resident, exclaimed afterwards, “This system is really amazing. I don’t know what would happen without it!” In addition, in the core protected area of the ancient mall, 30 high-definition “sky eyes” are watching the ancient city 24 hours a day, and the large screen in the monitoring center controls the whole situation in real time. This “technical defense network” integrates modern fire protection pipelines, intelligent warning systems, and all-weather monitoring, making fire hazards even more difficult to hide in the face of technology, and putting a solid “armor” on precious wooden ancient buildings.
Rules and regulations guard the mall for ever
With a good team and equipment, standardized systems are also needed to ensure long-term operation. Through in-depth field research and expert argumentation, Yuanjiang Road Street has scientifically identified the risks and hidden dangers in the ancient mall, drawn a clear “map of risks and hidden dangers in the ancient mall”, and based on this, formulated a scientific and meticulous plan for the construction of security facilities, enabling targeted investment. More importantly, the district housing and construction bureau and related streets actively implement maintenance and upkeep of fire-fighting facilities, and regularly conduct “health check ups” without fail: every month, fire extinguishers, fire hydrants, fire water tanks, pump rooms, alarm systems, etc. must undergo centralized inspection and maintenance to ensure that they are always in the best combat readiness state. Also in the best state of readiness are members of the dedicated fire brigade of the ancient mall. Every day at dawn, the training ground of the full-time fire brigade resounds with a loud command: “Look ahead, take a moment to rest. Today we will carry out weight-bearing climbing training, in pairs!” Captain Liang Gaomin is well aware of the special terrain of Hongjiang mountainous city: “There are many stairs and narrow alleys. In case of a fire, we rely on our legs and shoulders to beat time.” Therefore, sprinting through narrow stairs and crossing winding alleys with heavy loads has become a compulsory course for this team. This kind of rigorous training day after day is a vivid portrayal of the implementation of the “24-hour duty preparation training” system. These carefully designed systems ensure that the vigilance of civil defense is not relaxed, and the effectiveness of technical defense is not weakened, allowing the protection to be smoothly ensured.
Standing under the sealed fire wall that has weathered the wind and rain, touching the green bricks polished by time, we have understood the old saying of “fire prevention is the protection of wealth”, and witnessed how the “civilization without smoke” continues to write a legend and safety awareness is deeply rooted in people’s hearts—this is the best protection that Hongjiang Ancient Mall provides to the millennium city.
(Translated by Tian Xia)