Container Houses in Zhaoqing, Gaoyao District

Container houses in Zhaoqing, Gaoyao District, are widely used but have hidden safety hazards that require standardized management.

I. Application Scenarios

1. Agricultural Watch Houses: As a major agricultural cultivation and breeding area, Gaoyao District has numerous watch houses for farmland and fish ponds. The local government has piloted container-style watch houses in Jindu Town, built to uniform specifications. These houses meet the needs for storing agricultural production materials and providing watch services while blending harmoniously with the rural environment, enhancing aesthetics. For example, 34 container-style watch houses have been built in Jindu Town, distributed in communities such as Chongkou and Tiegang.
2. Temporary Commercial and Residential Spaces: Some building material stores and enterprises use container houses as employee dormitories or temporary business premises. For instance, Zhaoqing Gaoyao Rijiansheng Building Material Store once used a container house for employee accommodation, but a fire caused by electrical wiring faults resulted in three deaths.
3. Marketing Centers and Cultural Tourism Projects: Due to their modular and movable nature, container houses are used for temporary marketing centers or rural cultural tourism projects. For example, a container complex was erected in the middle section of Gaoyao Riverside Road as a temporary marketing center, featuring an artistic and high-end design.

II. Safety Hazards and Incident Cases

1. High Fire Risk: Container houses are often constructed using flammable materials. If the electrical wiring is aged, improperly connected, or flammable items are stored inside, fires can easily break out. For example, the fire at Rijiansheng Building Material Store was caused by electrical wiring faults. The presence of flammable materials inside the container house accelerated the spread of the fire, and clutter at the entrance obstructed escape, resulting in three deaths.
2. Lack of Fire Protection Facilities: Some container houses lack fire partitions, firefighting equipment, or safe exits, and the illegal practice of housing people is common. For example, at Rijiansheng Building Material Store, the accommodation and business premises were not separated by fire partitions, and the electrical wiring was haphazardly connected, ultimately leading to a liability accident.
3. Lack of Management Responsibility: Some enterprises fail to fulfill their fire safety responsibilities, engaging in illegal electricity use and housing people illegally, while local regulatory authorities fail to perform their duties adequately. For example, Peng, the actual controller of Rijiansheng Building Material Store, was held criminally responsible for failing to implement the fire safety responsibility system.

III. Standardization Recommendations

1. Strict Usage Management: The purposes of container houses must be clearly defined, and illegal housing or use as high-risk business premises must be prohibited.
2. Strengthen Fire Safety: Install fire partitions, equip with firefighting equipment, regularly inspect electrical wiring, and remove flammable materials.
3. Implement Regulatory Responsibilities: Enterprises must fulfill their primary fire safety responsibilities, and local authorities should strengthen inspections and promptly rectify hidden dangers.