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Fire Prevention Training Program held in Tagong

by Wu Bangfu, Dec 19, 2006

SEE ALSO: Fire Disaster at Ragyi Monastery, a news report from 2002

Contents:

• How this program got started
• Participants in the course
• Contents of the training program
• The cost of prevention

"Help, Help!"  cried a man making an emergency call to 1-1-9.  "My home is on fire!" and then he hung up the phone in a hurry. After a while, he phoned again and complained of the fire-fighting brigade's sluggish response to fire. But he still didn't tell the location of the fire. In the end, the family died from the fire caused by ignorance of basic knowledge of fire prevention and fighting.

Three days' fire prevention training course funded by USAID/Winrock International started at 9:30 a.m on December 15, 2006 in the chanting hall of Tagong Tibetan Buddhism School, with the story mentioned above. The trainees were monks from monasteries in Ganzi and Aba prefectures - caretakers and guardians of dozens if not hundreds of individual structures containing much of Kham's precious religious and cultural heritage.  Kham Aid was invited to observe the course, for the idea of a fire prevention course had been originally proposed by Kham Aid to the Tangla Tsewang Culture & Art Research Association (TTCARA), the program's organizers.  When TTCARA received a grant from Winrock to run the program, Kham Aid was invited to advise on planning and implementation. 

Credit goes to Tangla Tsewang Culture & Art Research Association for having done excellent preparation to guarantee the success of the program.  Two experts were invited from the Fire-Prevention and Fire-Fighting Brigade of Ganzi Prefecture, which is the sole professional organization for fire-prevention and fire-fighting in Ganzi Prefecture. In an effort to reach maximum success, Kham Aid Foundation sent two staff to the training course and Winrock International also sent a representative, too. The list below gives the names of instructors, organizers, and advisors:

Title	Name	Organization
Trainer	Liu Qi	Ganzi Prefecture Fire-Prevention & Fighting Brigade
Trainer	Li Jianmin	Ganzi Prefecture Fire-Prevention & Fighting Brigade
Translator	Gyimee Dorjee	CPPCC of Ganzi prefecture
Office director	Luo Kangbing	Tangla Tsewang Culture & Arts Research Association
Deputy Secretary General	Konchok Norbu	Tangla Tsewang Culture & Arts Research Association
Program assistant	Gesang Lhamo	Tangla Tsewang Culture & Arts Research Association
Vice President, China	Wu Bangfu	Kham Aid Foundation
Program assistant	Adrol	Kham Aid Foundation
Program assistant	Pasang	Winrock International
program coordinator	Yondeng	Tagong Tibetan Buddhism School

Thirty trainees were the students from the Tagong Tibetan Buddhism School, and five more specially came to the training course separately from a Baiyu monastery and a Ganzi monastery. Below is a list of participating monasteries:

Name	Monastery	County
Chuto	Gaor Monastery	Ya Jiang
Tashi Barong	Licho Monastery	Dawu
Dzeren Pencho	Dzaka Monastery	Kangding
Sandzu	Gyeelong Monastery	Danba
Chupee	Gyeelong Monastery	Danba
Karma Shidzi	BangboMonastery	Daocheng
Angwang Shiro	Migyee Monsatery	Litang
Dendzen	Gonga Monastyery	Kangding
Dzeren Sanpey	Sengge Monastery	Kangding
Tsitsen Ronbo	Lushi Monastery	Jinchuan/Aba
Gonbu	Licho Monastery	Dawu
Tashi Dendrup	Lucho Monastery	Jinchuan/Aba
Wengshu	Ladzi Monastery	Litang
Nyima Dendrup	Nike Monastery	Kangding
Tashi Dzeren	Luhuo Monastery	Luhuo
Norbu Dendzen	Baiyu Monastery	Baiyu
Dzake	Garto Monastery	Baiyu
Pencho	Chumo Monastery	Kangding
Genka	Rolu Monastery	Kangding
Lordro Linbo	Rolu Monastery	Kangding
Danpey	Lucho Monastery	Jinchuan/Aba
Churong	Sengla Monastery	Markang/Aba
Gyamba Pencho	Sengla Monastery	Markang/Aba
Tuden Lodrup	Tagong Monastery	Kangding
Chuba	Sanpey Monastery	Yajiang
Chulo	Yuke Monastery	Dawu
Bama Dorjee	Huiyuan Monastery	Dawu
Wugyin Sanpey	Niechen Monastery	Luhuo
Banke	Chuying Monastery	Dawu
Shiro Pencho	Tudeng Dagye Lin Monastery	Dawu
Senglong Gyaltse	Donggu Monastery	Ganzi
Baima Tsedeng	Donggu Monastery	Ganzi
Tsechen Lorong	Doke Monastery	Baiyu
Lodro	Doke Monastery	Baiyu
Baima	Doke Monastery	Baiyu

First of all, the trainers pointed out the potential fire problem and the obstacles to extinguish fire when occurring in the monastery, and stimulated the trainees’ interest immediately, they analyzed the features of monastery, such as the wooden structure, the improper installation of electrical wiring, butter lamps, ignorance to fire prevention, lack of basic knowledge on fire prevention, inappropriate fire use, the remote location of the monasteries, etc.

Based on the status mentioned above, the trainers emphasized that fire prevention and fighting needs both man-power and supply inputs. Their lectures include the subjects as follows:

• the importance of establishment of fire prevention committee and its duty
• the importance of establishment of voluntary fire prevention team and its duty
• What essential supplies should be prepared in advance
• How to use fire and electricity safely
• the importance of regular check for potential fire problem and fire fighting drills
• response to fire when occurring
• How to extinguish fire at the early stage within 10-15 minutes.
• when is the most dangerous period to fight fire
• How to make anticipated plan to protect lives and precious articles.
• How to make a phone call to the fire-fighting brigade

Meanwhile, the trainers analyzed lots of cases caused by the ignorance to fire prevention, lack of basic fire-fighting knowledge and being in want of essential supplies caused people killed and injured, and destroyed a large number of precious culture heritage, including the big fire occurred in an Indian monastery, which killed more than 300 people and injured more than 100 people in 2005 while celebrating a Buddhism festival in the monastery; and the fire which was caught in Kangding Namu Monastery in September,2006.

 During the training course, the trainees were asked to find the potential fire problem with the temple hall which was used for the training course. Then trainers taught them on how to solve these kinds of problem.

  The trainees were aware of the importance of the training, and did their best to make full use of this chance to learn as much as possible, so they were very active to ask questions even at breaks. Their questions varied from the difference between methods for petrol and common fire to what to do if failing to extinguish the fire within 15 minutes, and whether there are some other ways to stop fire if the fire extinguisher can’t stop the fire. Aiming at their questions, the trainers gave them explanation theoretically from three factors for fire: inflammable materials, original fire and oxygen and introduced them some easy and practical methods for stopping fire, like the use of sands, cloth, etc.

In an effort to strengthen the knowledge they learned, the experts also provide some free video materials to monks.

On December 17, 2006, more than a dozen of monks from Tagong Monastery also participated in the fire fighting drills together with the trainees. Before the drills, the trainers carefully taught them on how to use fire extinguisher safely, then the trainees practiced fire fighting.

The trainees are very pleased with the training course. They have built the sense of fire prevention through the training course, and expressed they would report the training to the administration of their monasteries and help set up the voluntary fire prevention team after they go back. But they also mentioned that, because of the funds problem, almost none of the monasteries in Ganzi prefecture is able to be equipped with even some basic supplies.

Originally, TTCARA planned to equip some participating monasteries with fire extinguishers and smoke-detectors, and improved safer electrical wiring, but funds available from Winrock/USAID were not sufficient to meet these costs. A fire extinguisher costs about 180 yuan ($23), a battery-powered smoke detector costs about 50 yuan ($6.40), and replacing dangerous wiring in a typical temple costs $50-$250 for parts and labor depending on size.

Thus, material costs for protecting an average monastery from fire, one day's travel from Kangding, with one large temple and five smaller buildings might be around $900 including transportation. The cost is very low when what's at stake are priceless collections of texts, paintings, artifacts, the buildings themselves, and the lives of the monks who live in them. We hope to raise more money for both fire prevention training and equipment in the future.

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