Chương 3 Nghị định 35/2003/NĐ-CP: Chữa cháy

Chapter III

FIRE FIGHTING

Article 22.- Fire-fighting plans

1. Fire-fighting plans must ensure the following basic requirements and contents:

a) Stating the nature and characteristics of fire, explosion and/or toxicity dangers and the conditions related to fire-fighting activities;

b) Anticipating circumstances of the biggest and most complicated fires as well as other typical fires, which may occur, the possibility of fire development at various degrees;

c) Setting out plans on mobilization and use of forces, means as well as organization of fire-fighting command, technical measures, tactics and service work, suitable to each period of each fire circumstance.

2. Heads of establishments, special economic zones, industrial parks, export processing zones or hi-tech parks, chiefs of villages, hamlets, urban population groups, forest owners, and owners of motorized traffic means, which require special fire prevention and fighting safety, shall have to draw up the fire-fighting plans; where their fire-fighting plans require the mobilization of forces and means of many agencies, organizations or localities, they shall request the fire prevention and fighting police agencies to guide and direct the elaboration of such plans.

The fire-fighting plans must be supplemented and adjusted in time when there is any change in the nature and characteristics of the fire, explosion and/or toxicity dangers as well as conditions related to fire-fighting activities.

3. Competence to approve fire-fighting plans:

a) The commune-level People’s Committee presidents, the heads of agencies or organizations shall approve fire-fighting plans falling under the scope of their management responsibilities;

b) The fire prevention and fighting police section heads shall approve fire-fighting plans involving forces and means of many agencies and organizations in the localities; for special cases, the directors of the provincial-level Police Departments shall approve them;

c) The provincial-level People’s Committee presidents shall approve the fire-fighting plans involving forces and means of the army units stationing in their respective localities;

d) The director of the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department shall approve the fire-fighting plans involving forces and means of many agencies, organizations and/or localities; in case of necessity, they shall be submitted to the Minister of Public Security or authorized persons for approval; for special cases, they shall be submitted by the Minister of Public Security to the Prime Minister for approval.

4. The fire-fighting plans shall be managed and used according to the regime of management and use of secret documents. Persons responsible for elaborating the fire-fighting plans, defined in Clause 2 of this Article, shall have to organize the archival of such plans and send the copies thereof to the fire prevention and fighting police units, which manage the geographical areas. Agencies and organizations having forces and means involved in the plans shall be informed of the contents related to their tasks.

5. Responsibility to organize drills under the fire-fighting plans:

a) Persons responsible for elaborating the fire-fighting plans, defined in Clause 2 of this Article, shall have to organize drills according to such plans. The fire-fighting plan drills must be organized periodically at least once a year and irregularly when so requested;

b) Forces and means included in plans, when mobilized, must fully participate therein.

6. The fire prevention and fighting police units shall have to guide and inspect the elaboration, practice, management and use of fire-fighting plans.

7. The Ministry of Public Security shall prescribe the form of "fire-fighting plans," the time limits for approval thereof and the regime of practicing the fire-fighting plans.

Article 23.- Responsibility to alarm fires, fight fires and participate in fire fighting

1. The fire detectors must seek all ways and means to alarm fires to people around and to one or all of the following units:

a) The grassroots civil defense teams or fire prevention and fighting teams at places where the fire break out;

b) The nearest fire prevention and fighting police units;

c) The nearest local administration or police offices.

2. The agencies and units prescribed at Points a, b and c, Clause 1 of this Article, upon receiving reports on fires occurring in areas assigned to them for management, shall have to quickly come to organize the fire fighting, and at the same time report such to the necessary agencies and units for their support in fire fighting; where fires occur outside the geographical areas assigned to them for management, after receiving the reports on fires, they must seek ways and means to quickly report them to the agencies or units managing the geographical areas where the fires break out, and at the same time to their superiors.

3. Persons who are present at places where fires break out and physically fit must seek ways and means to rescue people, prevent the fires from spreading and stamp out the fires; the participants in fire fighting must obey the orders of the fire-fighting commanders.

4. The police, army and militia and self-defense forces, the medical, electricity, water supply, urban sanitation, traffic and other relevant agencies have the tasks to fight fires and participate in fire fighting under the provisions in Clauses 2, 3 and 4, Article 33 of the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting.

Article 24.- Mobilizing priority vehicles, personnel and/or means of the army, of international organizations, foreign organizations and/or individuals in Vietnam for participation in fire fighting

1. Army personnel and means, when not performing urgent tasks, can all be mobilized for fire fighting and/or service of fire fighting. Army unit commanders, upon receiving orders on personnel and means mobilization for fire fighting and/or service of fire fighting, must immediately abide by them or report to the competent authorities for implementation organization.

The Ministry of Public Security shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry of Defense in guiding in detail the mobilization of army personnel and means for fire fighting and/or service of fire fighting.

2. Vehicles of the following types shall not be mobilized for fire fighting and/or service of fire fighting:

a) Army vehicles and police vehicles being on urgent missions;

b) Ambulances on emergency missions;

c) Dyke protection vehicles, vehicles being on missions to overcome consequences of natural calamities or emergency state as provided for by law;

d) Police-led vehicle convoys;

e) Funeral procession vehicles;

f) Other priority vehicles as provided for by law.

3. Personnel and/or means of international organizations, foreign organizations and individuals in Vietnam can all be mobilized for fire fighting and/or service of fire fighting, except for international organizations, foreign organizations and individuals, that enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities as provided for by law.

The Foreign Ministry shall have the responsibility to notify the Ministry of Public Security of the international organizations as well as foreign organizations and individuals in Vietnam, that enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities.

Article 25.- Competence to mobilize forces, means and properties for fire fighting

1. The competence to mobilize forces, means and properties for fire fighting is prescribed as follows:

a) The fire fighting commanders being fire prevention and fighting police, heads of agencies and organizations and presidents of the People’s Committees of the commune or higher levels are entitled to mobilize forces, means and properties of agencies, organizations, family households and individuals within the areas under their respective management; where they need to mobilize forces, means and properties outside their management scopes, they must report such to persons with the mobilizing competence for decision;

b) The heads of the fire prevention and fighting police sections are entitled to mobilize forces, means and properties of agencies, organizations, family households and individuals in the provinces and centrally-run cities. After the mobilization, they must notify the competent persons managing such forces, means and properties thereof;

c) The director of the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department is entitled to mobilize forces, means and properties of agencies, organizations, family households and individuals nationwide. After such mobilization, he/she shall have to notify the competent persons managing such forces, means and properties thereof.

2. The Ministry of Public Security shall prescribe forms, management and use of " Orders on mobilization of forces, means and properties for fire fighting’ and the mobilization procedures.

Article 26.- Returning and compensating for damage caused to means and properties mobilized for fire fighting

Means and properties of agencies, organizations, family households and individuals, which are mobilized for fire fighting and/or service of fire fighting, must be returned immediately after the fire fighting; in cases where means and/or properties are lost, damaged, houses and/or works are dismantled under the provisions at Points c and d, Clause 1, Article 38 of the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting, compensations shall be made therefor under the provisions of law.

The compensation fundings shall be allocated from the State budget.

The Finance Ministry shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security in providing detailed guidance on compensations.

Article 27.- Priority and ensuring the priority rights for people and means mobilized for fire fighting and participation in fire fighting

1. Vehicles, trains and aircraft of the fire prevention and fighting police force, when being on fire-fighting or fire-fighting service missions may use the priority signals, circulation priority rights and other priority rights as prescribed by law.

Land motorized traffic means of agencies, organizations and individuals, which are mobilized for fire fighting tasks, are entitled to enjoy the priority rights prescribed at Point b, Clause 2, Article 36 of the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting and are given priority in crossing bridges, ferries and exempt from fees for circulation on roads.

2. Persons who are mobilized for the tasks of fire fighting, when presenting the mobilization orders, must be arranged for their trips as soon as possible by means owners or traffic means operators or relevant responsible persons.

Article 28.- Priority signals, pennants, signboards and banners used in fire fighting

1. The priority signals used for land and waterway motorized traffic fire fighting means shall include:

a) Flickering red or blue lights;

b) Horns blowing priority signals.

c) Fire fighting pennants.

3. Pennants, signboards and banners used in fire fighting include:

a) The fire-fighting command pennant;

b) The fire-fighting command banner;

c) Signboards and bands delimiting boundaries of fire-fighting zones;

d) Signboards banning movement to and from the fire-fighting zones.

The specifications of priority signals, pennants, signboards and banners used in fire fighting are prescribed in Appendix 4 to this Decree (not printed herein).

Article 29.- Fire-fighting commanders

1. For the fire prevention and fighting police forces, the fire-fighting commanders must be the persons holding the rank of fire brigade commanders or higher.

2. In cases where the fire prevention and fighting police forces have not yet arrived at the places where fires broke out and the fires have spread from one establishment to another or from establishments to population quarters or vice versa, the fire-fighting commanders of the establishments and the population quarters shall have to coordinate in commanding the fire fighting.

3. Where motorized traffic means catch fire in areas of establishments, villages, hamlets, urban population groups, forests, where the fire prevention and fighting police forces have not yet arrived, the persons commanding the fire-fighting for the motorized traffic means must coordinate with the persons responsible for commanding the fire fighting at establishments in commanding the fire fighting.

4. When the person with the highest rank in the fire prevention and fighting police unit arrives at the place where a fire breaks out, the fire-fighting commander prescribed in Clause 2, Article 37 of the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting shall have to join the Fire Fighting Command and submit to the assignment by the fire-fighting commander of the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Force.

Article 30.- Fire-fighting commanding and directing tasks

1. Fire-fighting commanding tasks:

a) Mobilizing forces, means, properties, water sources and fire-fighting materials for fire fighting;

b) Locating the fire-fighting zones, drawing up and implementing technical measures and tactics for fire fighting;

c) Putting forth the requirements on ensuring traffic and order;

d) Organizing logistics for fire fighting, service of fire fighting and healthcare;

e) Organizing information and communications in service of fire fighting;

f) Organizing political and ideological work in fire fighting;

g) Organizing the information on the fire;

h) Proposing other requirements in service of fire fighting.

2. Fire-fighting directing tasks mean organizing the implementation of the mobilization of forces, means, properties, water sources and fire-fighting materials for fire fighting; ensuring conditions in service of fire fighting such as traffic, order, information and communications, fire fighting logistics, healthcare and political as well as ideological work in fire fighting.

3. When the fire prevention and fighting police forces have not yet arrived at the places where the fires break out, the heads of agencies and organizations and the presidents of the People’s Committees of the commune or higher levels shall have to perform the tasks prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article. When the fire prevention and fighting police forces arrive at the places where the fires break out, the commanders of the fire prevention and fighting police units shall have to perform the tasks prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article; the heads of the agencies and organizations, the presidents of the People’s Committees of the commune or higher levels shall have to participate in commanding the fire fighting and perform the tasks of directing the fire fighting prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 31.- Emergency circumstances where the right to decide on dismantlement of houses, works, obstacles and removal of assets upon fire fighting may be exercised

The fire fighting commanders may exercise the right to decide on dismantlement of houses, works, obstacles and removal of assets prescribed at Point d, Clause 1, Article 38 of the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting in the following emergency circumstances:

1. Where people are trapped in the fires or the fires directly threaten the lives of many people;

2. The fires are in the danger of directly leading to explosion, toxicity; adversely affecting the environment; causing heavy human and material losses; possibly causing bad political impacts if no measures are taken to stop them in time;

3. Houses, works and/or obstacles hindering the deployment of fire fighting, for which there is no other alternative to ensure higher effectiveness of the fire fighting.

Article 32.- Fire fighting at offices of diplomatic missions, consulates, representations of international organizations and residences of staff members thereof

1. The fire prevention and fighting forces of Vietnam may enter the offices of the following agencies for fire fighting when so requested or consented by the heads or the authorized persons of those agencies:

a) Offices of the diplomatic missions;

b) Offices of the consulates of the countries which have signed with Vietnam consular agreements clearly stating that the fire prevention and fighting forces of Vietnam may enter for fire fighting when so requested or consented by the heads or authorized persons of those agencies;

c) Offices of the representations of international organizations within the United Nations system;

d) Offices of the representations of the inter-governmental international organizations outside the United Nations system, missions of international organizations, if the agreements signed between Vietnam and those organizations stipulate that the fire prevention and fighting forces of Vietnam may enter for fire fighting when so requested or consented by the heads or authorized persons of those agencies.

2. The fire prevention and fighting forces of Vietnam may enter the offices of the consulates and representations of international organizations not specified in Clause 1 of this Article for fire fighting without the requests or consents of the heads or authorized persons of those agencies.

3. The fire prevention and fighting forces of Vietnam may enter residences of the following persons for fire fighting when so requested or consented by those persons:

a) Residences of diplomats and their family members being other than Vietnamese citizens; administrative and technical personnel and their family members being other than Vietnamese citizens nor permanent residents in Vietnam;

b) Residences of consuls being other than Vietnamese citizens nor permanent residents in Vietnam, if the consular agreements signed between Vietnam and the countries of those consuls stipulate that the fire prevention and fighting forces of Vietnam may enter for fire fighting when so requested or consented by those persons.

4. The fire prevention and fighting forces of Vietnam may enter residences of staff members of consulates or representations of international organizations other than those specified in Clause 3 of this Article without the requests or consents of those staff members.

5. The Foreign Ministry shall notify the Ministry of Public Security of the subjects defined at Points b, c and d of Clause 1, and Point b of Clause 3 of this Article.