Who runs the fire department in Kunming?

I never saw a fire station the entire time I was in mainland China/Kunming. Where are the fire stations at and who runs them? PLA Army?

When I was in Hong Kong, I would see them since HK is a step above mainland China when it comes to public services such as police, fire, EMS, etc.

I have seen lots of fire stations. Run by PLA.

I have seen fire trucks in Kunming before. Apparently there was a fire in downtown or somewhere recently.

Why does the PLA run the fire stations in China?

@gaoxing
Traditionally, public security (people with guns) and most civil services were operated by the PLA. Public security transitioned away from the PLA for various political reasons.

The fire dept is still run by the PLA for a variety of reasons, to wit:
1. Corruption is lower
2. The PLA provides equipment - trucks, supplies, personnel, training.
3. Fire dept employees have military responsibility - they train continuously. THe PLA are the most professional organization in all of China.

Taiwan - with it's allegedly advanced infrastructure - still suffers from severe corruption - although hopefully that's waning with the exit of the previous asshole president and his cronies. Taiwan is rife with stories about fires left to burn because the homeowners didn't have enough money to bribe the fire department on scene.

So - at the worker-bee level - it would be extremely rare to see this kind of corruption. Be thankful the PLA operates the fire department. Well trained, well equipped, disciplined, and ferociously brave, as one would expect of their national military. When they arrive on scene - they command the situation - unlike the traffic "guards" who bend with the breeze - hopefully you'll NEVER need to experience that.

Not sure if the city funds the fire department through taxes yet - but rue and woe the day that happens. It won't be a smooth or pleasant transition and I'm sure it'll be mired in corruption and kickbacks.

Incidentally - the PLA used to also operate the prisons - without budget from the cities or provinces - but that's another thread. THe USA could take a few lessons from China on how to efficiently operate their prisons.

yeah, the fire service is run under the PLA, but the claim of " corruption is lower" might be a bit of wishful thinking.

example, in guangzhou and shenzhen, the owners of cafe, disco bars.....etc pay a lot of "donation" to "some unknownaccounts" to get their annum inspection passed. very interesting.

Actually the PAP runs the fire stations,,not the PLA

yeah, thanks, it is the pap that runs the fire service.

it is also interesting that both the pla and pap come under the command of the central military commission, my understanding, the local government has little control on the unit. :-)

I checked out PAP on wikipedia. PAP is an offshoot of PLA. Its was decided that the role of the Army and internal security are very different and needed a different body. And so a new body PAP was formed. This makes perfect sense.

Having the fire service run by PAP also makes sense as it is a national body, that can set national standards. And is independent of local government, a good idea in China.

A co-worker of mine did her military service in the fire service. The fire service, more than any other civilian service (with the exception of SWAT) requires military type discipline.

The PAP are much more disciplined and effective than the Keystone Cops we usually deal with.

The main difference with the PAP and the PLA is that PAP troop deployments can be made faster (less red tape) so they can be sent to areas of need faster.

Also the PAP normally tries not to have many local people in their units (unlike the PLA which draws its recruits from the area) and the PAP units are moved around the country a lot. During a time of unrest (late 80's)the PLA was not so effective in dealing with local protesters, but the PAP cleared the square and streets as ordered.