Author: Ina Allkanjari
The ruins of the "Metropol" center in Lushnje are an alarm bell for other tragedies. The event, which fortunately ended without casualties, but caused great losses to businesses and owners, has highlighted the lack of enforcement of the fire protection law and the lack of firefighting equipment to intervene in time and efficiently.
"No one expected this to happen, but it did".
Besim Myftari is one of the citizens of the city of Lushnje, who talks about the panic experienced at noon on December 25, as the flames engulfed the "Metropol" shopping center. His 27-year-old son was in the premises of the center when the fire spread through the building.
"The boy together with the other children ran out. My son was with his peers, but there were also children, 2, 3, 5 years old, playing there. When they ran out, people fell down the stairs. Catastrophe. Everyone came to put out the fire and it did not go out", says Myftari.
A month after the fire, the shopping center, built in the middle of the city of Lushnje, looks like a ruin. With around 300 businesses, this center has been operating since 2007, enabling the employment of over 500 employees. Desperate business owners tell off-camera that the damage is colossal and recovery seems like an illusion. Unclear when this center will be able to be functional again, they say that the loss is worth millions of lek.
"My sister-in-law had two shops that had brides and grooms working in Italy and they supplied the shop the day before the fire. 40 million ALL goods. Now they are over, there is no more. When the second one starts, they start over, but starting over is zero", says Besim Myftari.
As we wander around the wreckage caused by the fire, residents of the two 12-story towers sandwiched between the mall are reluctant to speak. Business owners sitting in the cafe next to the center talk about the loss of the investment of a "lifetime"
Xezmi Metushi, the head of the fire department in the Lushnje municipality, tells Sinjalizo that if a business is insured, it can receive compensation, but when a month has passed since the serious event, none of the businesses have appeared to receive the certificate of fire.
"Two family members have come here who have received the certificate of fire, no businesses, they have not come to me so far. They use the verification as they wish, but one possibility is that those who are families receive compensation from the municipality", said the head of the fire department.
The law on fire protection, how it applies
Law no. 152 of 2015 clearly defines how the classification of buildings is done in terms of fire protection and rescue. The law specifies that a shopping center must first have all the necessary documentation. These documents start with the beginning of the facility, where special files for fire protection are prepared. Further, based on the fire protection project prepared by the licensed engineer, all businesses begin to be equipped with fire protection equipment. But what happened in the "Metropol" center, how prepared was this building, despite the provisions in the law?
The head of the fire department, Xezmi Metushi, shows that the equipment starts from the most basic thing, which is the fire extinguisher, and up to the emergency stairs that a certain object should have, which he emphasizes that this station lacked.
"If the Metropol center had emergency stairs, it would be even easier for residents to get out, but also for people. Despite the fact that we had no casualties. But there should definitely be an emergency level. Equipping all businesses working there with fire protection equipment. Each business must compile a fire protection project, regardless of whether they are in a whole", says the head of the fire department.
Nebi Muçaj, Director of the Voluntary Center for Civil Emergencies, raises the same concern for Sinjalizo. According to him, the shopping center is one of the facilities that did not take the appropriate measures for fire protection.
"With what we saw, it is obvious that there was no emergency level, there were no water deposits, which by law should be in every industry or commercial center. There should be hydrants both inside the facility and outside the facility", says the Director of the Voluntary Center for Civil Emergencies.
Muçaj says that businesses underestimate the share of fire emergencies.
"Certainly, the citizens should be more aware, it should also be introduced as a culture to take the extinguisher that is there on the side of the stairs, in the corridor or in the room where the fire broke out, and use it without hesitation to extinguish a fire small fire. If we put out a small flame, we avoid a big danger." says Nebi Muçaj.
Firefighters with a lack of effectiveness and equipment
Although in the law no. 152 of 2015 specifies that for every 1500-2000 inhabitants there should be a professional firefighter, this reality seems far away in this city where currently there are only 12 firefighters. Despite the demands of the Lushnje fire department for an increase in effectiveness, the result remains the same. Lushnja has 120 thousand inhabitants.
The lack of personnel is also compounded by the lack of necessary firefighting equipment. The citizens of Lushnja who live in tall buildings are vulnerable in fire situations, as the fire extinguisher does not have a ladder, an essential tool for extinguishing fires at height.
"With the tools we have, it is very difficult for fires at height, we are talking about the fifth floor or over 15-20 meters high. We find it very problematic when we have such fires, because we do not have the tools to fight fires at high altitudes", says Xhezmi Metushi, head of the fire department in Lushnje municipality.
All that the firefighters in this municipality have are two fire engines, specifically one with 2 thousand liters of water and one with 200 liters of water.
The battle with the flames that engulfed the "Metropol" shopping center lasted approximately 10 hours. The fire engine with a ladder truck arrived near the center after 8 hours of "fighting" the flames. It was precisely the lack of a ladder from the Lushnje fire department which made it difficult to extinguish the fire while the firefighters poured water from the first floor to the fourth floor of the center which was burning.
What would have happened differently if they were the right tools
The head of the fire department Xezmi Metushi says that this tragedy could have been prevented if they had the right tools, such as a ladder or other necessary equipment.
"Together with the mayor, we tried to buy a escalator for years, but we couldn't do it. The timely notification and our fastest actions and having such a tool, I believe it should have been located." says Metushi.
The firefighting forces in Lushnja were faced with a great challenge during the efforts to stop the spread of the flames. Limited firefighting capabilities made this event have a deeper impact, demonstrating an urgent need for investment and improvements in the local firefighting system. The event is also a lesson for residents and businesses to better respond to emergencies.
This article was created based on input provided by individuals who have chosen to speak up. Share your story, empower others and be an agent for change. Visit the website: www.acqj.al/sinjalizo-dhe-ti/
