Related Article: CCTV Fireworks Blamed for Tower Inferno (Update) 
                        Firefighting Gear Falls Short in CCTV Blaze

News Pictures: Pictures about CCTV Tower

Newscast: CCTV Fire

By staff reporter Ouyang Hongliang

From Caijing Online

The construction director for China Central Television, Xu Wei, is under investigation in the wake of a massive fire February 9 that engulfed a high-rise at CCTV’s new office complex in Beijing, Caijing learned from sources.

Xu Wei

Xu has worked at the national TV network since 1983 and has been in charge of an ongoing, 7.9 billion yuan project to build a modern headquarters for CCTV since 2005.

CCTV declined comment on the investigation report. Neither was it clear which agency was heading the Xu probe.

But as part of a Web site apology February 10, CCTV accused Xu of overseeing an “illegal” fireworks show that apparently sparked the blaze in the unoccupied, 30-story building, which housed an unopened luxury hotel and TV facilities.

The building burned for six hours starting late February 9, killing a firefighter and injuring eight people, after fireworks launched for China’s Lantern Festival celebration set building materials ablaze. CCTV blamed Xu for the unapproved fireworks show.

The blaze forced evacuations of more than 600 nearby apartment residents. Economic losses are still being calculated.

Beijing fire officials, at a news conference after the flames died, blamed an illegal fireworks show organized by CCTV for the inferno.

Illegal Fireworks

Fireworks in China are categorized in four groups, according to risk level and display requirements.

Fireworks launched near the CCTV buildings were classified as Type A, the highest of four classifications in China and reserved for exclusive use by governments from provincial levels up. Type A fireworks are designed for important celebrations such as National Day, or key events such as last year’s Olympic Games in Beijing.

Using Type A fireworks not only require professional show operators but approvals from high-level government and police officials. Citizens are not allowed to buy or use these devices, although Beijing lifted a ban on lower-class fireworks in 2006 and now lets citizens set them off during the lunar New Year period, which ends with the Lantern Festival.

For the display gone awry, CCTV bought 1 million yuan worth of fireworks from the Hunan Province company Sanxiang, which dispatched staff members to run the show. Four TV station cameras recorded the spectacle. 

Firefighter Response

According to the Beijing fire department, the first alert came at 8:27 p.m. February 9, and the response eventually expanded to include 85 fire trucks and 595 firefighters.

Five firefighters from the nearby Hongmiao squad were the first to arrive. They climbed 14 floors but were forced to retreat after heavy smoke cut visibility and impaired respirators.

The firefighters temporarily lost contact with colleagues, and initially only three managed to escape the building. A fourth was later rescued but Zhang Jianyong, the squad’s 29-year-old team leader, died.

The injured included six firefighters and two members of a real estate management office.

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