In the capital, firefighters face great challenges, not only with raging flames but also with the city's narrow and overcrowded streets. These limited roads and problematic parking often delay and limit their quick and vital intervention, making it difficult to fight fires and seriously endangering the safety of citizens and their property.
Author: Freard Rista
After more than three hours of battling the huge flames, Tirana firefighters managed to extinguish the fire that engulfed the 10-story building on Muhedin Llagani Street on September 14, 2023. The fire, which knew no bounds, spreading almost throughout the entire structure of the building, seriously threatened its collapse. Meanwhile, dozens of families are still in the open today, as the internal reconstruction of the building has not been completed.
But how and why this fire, one of the biggest that has ever happened in the capital, was not extinguished in time, to avoid damage to the structure of the palace, as well as the spread of flames to many apartments?
According to the experts of the Institute of Construction, the "polyurethane foam" material of the facade was the reason for the spread of the fire in other parts of the building, as well as for the reactivation of the fireplaces, since it is an oil-based material. However, was this the only reason that the flames lasted more than three hours?
"In the case of the burning of the building in the area of the former Bus Park, a large car, an auto-scale, had to be entered, but it could not take the turn. We cut down trees there, removed inerts, concrete, because the tools could not be inserted", says Bledar Bajrami, head of the Firefighters' Union.
As soon as the alarm goes off at the station, time becomes the most precious element for the officers, but in the capital they encounter difficulties as soon as they leave the door of the station.
"The biggest problem to get to the scene on time is the obstacle on the way to get there due to the heavy traffic in Tirana, which slows us down", says Saki Shehi, a firefighter with over 40 years of experience.
For him, even on days with less traffic, arriving at the scene in record time is impossible, due to the narrow roads in the residential areas of Tirana. Some roads do not meet standards, while others are artificially narrowed by parked vehicles.
"There are some areas in Tirana, where the roads are narrow, but parking on the side of the road is also a problem. People only leave space for the car to pass, they don't think about vehicles like the fire engine", says Shehi effectively, who adds that, even when they want to use auto-scale for positioning the car, they encounter difficulties, as many vehicles park incorrectly.
"In many cases we move them with a cart or the police come and help us. From Kavaja Street to Myslym Shyri , the streets are problematic for parking, the problem is the Cham market , Astiri ; in the Selita area, the roads are narrow and mountainous. We have had cases where we have encountered difficulties there, when driving," he says, adding that citizens are irresponsible for this area.
On the other hand, for the professor of urban planning, Gent Kaprata, the problem does not lie with "irresponsible citizens", more than it lies with the Municipality of Tirana itself.
"People can't put their cars in their pockets, the municipality should have thought about this part. When you don't have a place to park citizens' vehicles, why do you issue building permits? Cars weren't invented today, it's been years. The city is complex, including cars. We can't legally remove cars and let firefighters pass easily," says Mr. Kaprata, emphasizing that this is not a solution, but the solution lies in urban planning, where the municipality should make a general, territorial, local plan and resolve the main axes of the city, as well as define in each residential unit some urban conditions, so that, when the detailed, local plan is made, the fire department can access it easily.
"Tirana has only one General Local Territorial Plan, and then this plan is divided into Urban Structural Units, for which Detailed Local Plans are made. As long as this unit is habitable, the work of the fire brigade should have been resolved, the fire brigade must enter. The fact that it does not enter a neighborhood street, i.e. a structural unit, shows that it was not taken into account", he says, adding that a street should be at least 4 meters wide and high, if it is closed, at least 5.5 meters, so that a fire extinguisher can be inserted. For Mr. Kaprata, this issue should have been resolved years ago.
The phenomenon of artificial blocking of roads by vehicles parked on one or both sides for the director of the Fire Service of Tirana, Shkëlqim Goxhaj, is not a problem, while he says that they have submitted complaints to the Municipality of Tirana, leaving the "ball" to him. Municipal Police for the regulation of parking in the capital.
"We do an analysis every year, we send it to the institutions, the municipality, and the municipality then to the ministry. We encounter difficulties with parking, but we do not consider it a serious problem, it is a problem of the Municipal Police, we find the solution. It is not that a case of incorrect parking makes us not go in the event of a fire," says Mr. Goxhaj, adding that there are roads in the capital where they encounter difficulties, such as the area at the Cham market and the one between Kavaja Street and Myslym Shyri Street , where, whenever there is an incident in these areas, smaller firefighting vehicles are dispatched.
"We have had several fire cases where we have had to lay very long lines to reach the scene. We have a problem in the residential blocks in the Unaza e Re area . We are also required to move vehicles, especially at night. But if we cannot move vehicles, we lay more lines. There is zero chance that the fire service will not be able to get to the scene due to traffic, narrow streets or parking lots. We encounter difficulties, yes, but we find a solution. The lines, the pipes, that we lay are up to 100 meters long," he concludes.
The movement of vehicles or the process of laying lines, which for officer Saki Shehi has no value in long distances, because the water pressure drops, translates into time, which favors the fire and is to the detriment of the citizen.
According to Law 152/2015 "On fire protection and rescue service", the ratio should be 1 firefighter for 1.500-2.000 inhabitants. Referring to the latest data of 2021, there are 685 thousand inhabitants (registered) living in the Municipality of Tirana, which means that over 340 firefighters should operate in the capital, while there are only 166. The General Directorate of Fire Protection and Rescue at the Ministry of the Interior clarifies that efforts are being made to increase the number of fire service personnel year after year, while explaining that the responsibility for increasing human resources lies with the municipality itself.
For director Goxhaj, the number of 340 firemen for Tirana's fire service is unnecessary, while he claims that the increase from 166 to 200 firemen, the increase in working conditions or the replacement of old firefighting equipment with new ones, will play an essential role in the efficiency of actions by fire brigades.
"In Tirana, 200 troops are enough. I made a request to the municipality to add the number. As for clothing and equipment, we are behind, we do not have clothing produced for Tirana, fire uniforms. We distribute to the districts through donations, but we don't have any for Tirana. We are working to have our fire uniform as well. We circulate the funds with difficulty, with more donations. What we needed the most, are the air compressors, to fill the cylinders, to get people in, to put out the fire", - says the head of the Tirana fire department, giving an overview of the state of the infrastructure and the tools that this sector has available in the country's largest city. He also adds that he was promised about the salaries, but they are in discussions about adjusting the salary of the employees.
"In Tirana we are persecuted, the salary is based on rank, they are with minimum rank, assistants, who need 5 years to be called firefighters and have the lowest salary in the Republic of Albania," he says.
For Professor Kaprata, even if the aforementioned needs are met, extinguishing the fire at the right time will still remain a problem in the vast majority of the capital, as long as the local plan of Tirana is not interfered with.
"Tirana has become very large. I think that the stations need to be added, as well as distributed in a harmonious way, so that access to the scene is easier, which can be done; the number of firefighters is also increased, and the vehicles are found, but, if there is no intervention in the streets of Tirana, they will still have a difficult time from an urban planning perspective", - says the professor of urban planning, who adds that, "even the firefighting vehicles will be replaced, the new ones are larger and it will become even more difficult. In America, roads are being expanded. Tirana's roads were not designed for 400 thousand cars and 1 million people. The population and vehicles are increasing, while the roads remain the same and of course access is a problem, especially for firefighting vehicles", - he concludes, adding that the only solution is planning.
Official figures, updated on September 30, 2023 by the DPSHTRR, speak of 264.311 vehicles registered in the Municipality of Tirana, while parking spaces for residents are only 5.879, those reserved for non-residents are 4378.2223 and are paid, while Tirana Parking administers 9.696 parking spaces; a total of 22.176, or 8.4% of the total number of registered vehicles. Some of the vehicles are parked in the underground floors of residential buildings, what about the rest?
Where they can, becoming a real problem for emergency vehicles, mainly fire engines, due to their size.
Firefighting vehicles, depending on the type and function, have dimensions starting from 2.2 meters to 6 meters wide (when the legs of the auto-ladder are opened); they are over 3 meters high and 7.2 meters to 12 meters long.
According to Professor Kaprata, for a fire engine to easily access, a road must be 4 meters wide, while for experts from the Municipality of Tirana, a width of 3.5 meters is sufficient. According to the Municipality of Tirana, only the Cham Market Road is problematic.
The photo clearly shows that on this road, after the Cham market , which is connected to several residential buildings, even a van, smaller than a fire engine, encounters difficulties in accessing it.
However, is the Cham market area the only problematic area for firefighting vehicles in Tirana due to illegal parking on the streets of residential blocks?
This road, which is located behind "Besnik Sykja" secondary school, is even narrower than the minimum width of a fire engine. The artificial narrowing came as a result of vehicles parking on the right side of the road.
The same problem is observed on this street, which is located opposite the Tirana Police Directorate, in the Myslym Shyri area.
On Xhoxhi Martini Street , at only 1.73 meters wide, only pedestrians or motorcycles can access it, turning it into an impassable road, not only for emergency vehicles, but also for ordinary cars.
Meanwhile, Jeta Road in the Astir area is completely impassable, due to the blocking of the entrance by vehicles belonging to residents of the area.
Regarding these issues identified in the article, ACQJ addressed the Municipality of Tirana for a reaction, which stated: "Regarding the issue raised, which has been identified both by us and by the fire service structures, as an issue encountered, public awareness has been requested to respect road traffic rules."
Until the awareness of several hundreds of thousands of citizens regarding the parking of vehicles in a city, where space is limited, the vehicles will be parked where their owners have the opportunity to park, while the firefighters, before starting the "war" with the flames, they will have to win the "battle" with the narrow streets of Tirana.
This article is part of the Investigative Journalism Laboratory project, which is financially supported by the Public Relations Office of the US Embassy in Tirana. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the Department of State.
