The agency record of the first administrative dispute case for determining the cause of a fire in China

----Lawyer Zhou Xiangen

One Paper Notice: Triggering the First Administrative Litigation for Determining the Cause of a Fire in China

On September 29, 2001, the Fire Brigade of the Public Security Bureau of Linhai City issued the (Lin) Gong Xiao (2001) No. 012 Fire Cause Determination Letter regarding the fact of a fire at the Jin family in Zhangjiadu Village, Linhai City. It stated that on August 25, 2001, at 5:10 am, a fire broke out at the Guangguang Electrical Appliance Store operated by Jin. Burn down shop merchandise and indoor furniture, appliances, and daily necessities, and burn down two rooms.

According to Article 39 of the Fire Protection Law, the cause of the fire is determined as follows:

1. Time of fire: 5:10 am on August 25, 2001;

2. The location of the fire: the southern end of the second floor of the TV rack placed north and south on the south side of the first floor of the store;

3. Reason for the fire: The first 29 inch Changhong TV in the southern end malfunctioned. As an interested party, Sichuan Changhong Electrical Appliances Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Changhong Company), upon learning that the cause of the fire was caused by a malfunction of the television set produced by it, refused to accept the fire cause determination made by the Fire Brigade of Linhai Public Security Bureau and submitted a reconsideration application to the Fire Brigade of Taizhou Public Security Bureau. After examination, the Fire Brigade of Taizhou Public Security Bureau made a decision to maintain the fire on December 12, 2001. Changhong Company refused to accept the determination of the cause of the fire and filed the first administrative lawsuit in China against the administrative determination of the cause of the fire with the court on April 26, 2002.

Focus of defense: Can a TV malfunction cause a fire

During the lawsuit, Changhong Company believed that the fire cause determination document determined that the first 29 inch Changhong TV set in the southern end malfunctioned and caused the fire in this case, and there was no basis to prove it because:

1. It is believed that the television set that caused the fire did not have a rainbow sign at all;

2. What type of 29 inch Changhong TV is it? The cause of the fire has not been confirmed;

3. The wreckage of the TV set that caused the fire was not identified in accordance with the law;

4. What is the cause of the malfunction; Therefore, the fire cause determination made by the Fire Brigade of Linhai Public Security Bureau has no factual basis, and the wreckage has not been identified in accordance with the law. The procedure is illegal, and the court is requested to revoke it.

In response to the lawsuit filed by Changhong Company, Zhou Xiangen, the acting lawyer of the Fire Brigade of Linhai Public Security Bureau, defended that:

1. According to the statement of the party involved, Jin and his family, only one Changhong TV set in the southern end was in a live state that night, and corresponding statements were made on the location and time of the fire;

2. According to the testimony of witnesses such as Wang, who were present to fight the fire, it was confirmed that before the fire broke out, they were watching TV in the store. Jin usually played it on a Changhong 29 inch TV, which was also on that night and was in a live state;

3. The on-site investigation records confirmed that the position of the 29 inch Changhong TV set was severely burned, with an iron frame placed and severely bent, which can be confirmed as the location of the fire. As for the wreckage, there is no longer any appraisal value or necessity in this case. Therefore, the facts for determining the cause of the fire in this case are clear, the evidence is sufficient, and the procedure is legal. We request that the lawsuit of Changhong Company be dismissed.

Fact basis: Is the TV malfunction established

Due to the particularity of the cause of the fire and the destructive nature of the fire scene, the public security fire department often uses exclusion methods to determine the cause and location of the fire when identifying the cause of the fire. Sometimes, technical identification and fire scene simulation restoration are also used to determine the cause of the fire. Regarding whether the malfunction of the first 29 inch Changhong TV set at the southern end of this case can be the cause of the fire, Lawyer Zhou Xiangen expressed the following opinion:

1、 In this case, based on the statements of the parties involved, witness testimony, and on-site investigation, it can be proven that the occurrence of the fire in this case did not have the possibility of fire caused by household fires, arson, aging of the line, and other reasons; Changhong Company also did not provide evidence to prove that the fire in this case may have been caused by other reasons.

2、 To determine whether the fire in this case was caused by the Changhong 29 inch television, an investigation should be conducted to determine the location of the fire, the storage of items at the location of the fire, and whether the item can cause fuel. In this case, the evidence provided by the fire department to the court can confirm the correctness of its determination of the cause of the fire. 1. Regarding the identification of the location of the fire, based on the testimony of Wang, Wang, and others who initially arrived at the scene, Wang stated that the fire broke out on the iron frame, facing south; Wang said: There was no fire on the lower floor, and the first and second televisions on the south side on the left were on a large fire. There was no fire on the front and rear sides of the shelves. From the on-site investigation records, it was confirmed that the southern shelf was more severely damaged than the northern shelf after fuel consumption. Although the witness's testimony had different statements on some details, the conclusion was that the same location where the fire broke out was the TV shelf on the south side of the first floor, which is mutually confirmed by the evidence from the fire scene photos. 2. Regarding the identification of items placed at the location of the fire, according to statements by Jin, his family, Zhang, Xu, and others, it can be confirmed that the southern end of the shelf is a Changhong 29 inch TV set, which is consistent with the schematic diagram drawn by the parties themselves for the placement of items on the third floor shelf. 3. Regarding the determination that the 29 inch Changhong TV was in a powered on state that night. Witness Zhang said: Usually, it is played on the 29 inch Changhong TV set located in the direction of my home on the second floor from bottom to top; Witness Xu claimed that the 21-inch TV is placed on the third floor of the shelf, with items such as lamps and wires on the bottom floor. Usually, the 29-inch Changhong TV on the south side of the second floor is playing, and the wires are connected properly. The party involved, Jin and his son, stated that they had seen the 29 inch Changhong TV set that night. The TV set was placed on the south side of the second floor and we saw it at around 23:40, which was turned off using a remote control. Therefore, the above facts and evidence are sufficient to determine that the fire was caused by a malfunction of the Changhong 29 inch TV.

3、 Changhong Company has requested an appraisal of the wreckage in order to determine the cause of the malfunction. Lawyer Zhou Xiangen believes that according to Article 21 of the "Fire Accident Investigation Regulations", whether the public security fire department conducts technical appraisal on the extracted trace evidence shall be determined by the public security fire department. In this case, due to the fact that the extracted TV wreckage only had some traces of plastic parts, and all the components in the middle had been burned, it had lost its appraisal value. Therefore, Changhong Company requested to determine that the fault was caused by the code type component, which has lost its substantive significance in this case and there is no procedural violation.

In summary, the Fire Brigade of Linhai Public Security Bureau, based on relevant evidence in this case, determined that the cause of the fire was due to the malfunction of the first 29 inch Changhong TV set in the southern end and was not improper.

Problem in this case: Procedure for defects

This case has gone through the first, second, and trial supervision procedures, and the claims of Changhong Company have all been rejected; However, during the agency process, it was found that the public security and fire department had the following procedural deficiencies when dealing with related issues:

1. Before the case was concluded, the public security fire department handled the wreckage of the television set, which was inappropriate for the preservation of physical evidence in the context of the fire department's determination of the cause of the fire as actionable. The fire department believes that the determination of the cause of the fire is actionable and occurred after the administrative division of the Supreme People's Court issued a response in the form of (2002) Xingtazi No. 4 on June 20, 2002. Prior to this, the determination of the cause of the fire was processed as a technical document for inspection and appraisal, so there was no improper handling of the TV wreckage extracted from the scene.

2. Regarding the investigation record, it is indicated that it was conducted by two people, but there was only one person recording and signing the record from beginning to end, indicating that the evidence in the record was improperly formed.

3. Qualification issues for fire investigators. According to Article 10 of the Fire Accident Investigation Regulations, fire accident investigators should obtain job qualification certificates. Although a unified qualification examination for qualification certificates has been implemented, no job qualification certificate has been issued yet, which is a major drawback in public security fire management.