IRRESPONSIBLE / Centuries-old olive trees light fires to keep warm, police: They will be prosecuted!

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The lessons that are not being translated into lessons

2026-08-17 21:26:48Pikëpamje SHKRUAR NGA LUTFI DERVISHI
Fire in a hotel on the Lungomare of Vlora

After the fire at a hotel on the Lungomare promenade in Vlora, where six vacationers were injured, what is expected in these cases is happening: inspections of the hotels have begun.

Checks need to be done, but the question is: why (always) like a coffin after harvest?

Why is it that after we experience it, we mobilize, check, inspect, declare, post, comment, and then... forget?

On paper, things are all well and good, but fire doesn't ask about the papers.

The fire in Vlora would not have caused those consequences if the alarm and early detection system for smoke and fire had been functioning.

The consequences would have been much smaller if all other safety measures had been in place: fire extinguishers, hydrants, emergency lighting, signage, clear evacuation routes and exits, fire-resistant doors, and automatic extinguishing systems.

It's not that we lack "experience" with fires.

Just four months ago, in April, another spectacular fire engulfed a building near the QSUT in Tirana, where the building's facade was burned to the ground.

Balance: 71 apartments damaged, four people were arrested, including the building administrator, the facade subcontractor, and an engineer, while the "builder" was declared wanted.

The day after the fire, the company said it would rebuild the damaged facade and apartments.

Four months later, where are we with the promises and investigations?

What happened to the wanted person? What happened to the apartments and the residents? Was there a technical analysis of the causes and spread of the fire?

And, above all: did we learn any lessons from the facades that burn like embers?

If the facade of that building was problematic (a repeated case with the same company), were other buildings built with the same system, with the same materials, by the same builder inspected?

Do we have an inventory of the facades of multi-story buildings today to identify materials that can spread fire?

One of the lessons the world has learned from such tragedies is that after a disaster, more than finding the culprit, you must discover the causes and take measures to prevent the danger from recurring.

The law we have recognizes high-risk facilities, such as hospitals, hotels, asylums, and other buildings where a fire could have serious consequences, but certificates are not enough; real periodic inspections, unannounced checks, and, above all, tests to see if things work are needed.

If the inspections launched today are completed in two days, along with the media hype surrounding the event, the Vlora fire will be forgotten like all the others.

The fires aren't over yet, but right now is the best time to deal with the next danger: fall and winter floods.

If there are going to be inspections (and we know how to do many of them, like dozens of inspections in four years for nearly 6 kilometers of the Tirana-Durrës road expansion), then the drainage channels, embankments, manholes, and culverts need to be checked now.

Otherwise, in a few weeks we will hear the same slogans that we already know even in our sleep: "emergency situation", "maximum mobilization", "state on its feet", "forces on the ground", "immediate measures", readiness for assistance from Kosovo and ministers reporting from the scene, some in rubber boots and some in collars.

Autumn floods will give way to snow and frost, snow will give way to spring floods, and spring floods will give way to next summer's fires.

As cynical as it may sound, the good news is that by then we will probably actually have the three firefighting aircraft that were promised to be purchased in the winter.

Misfortunes are a part of life and you can't always avoid them, but repeating the same mistakes is no longer called a misfortune.

Give it whatever name you want!


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

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