Beijing Television Cultural Center fire

The Beijing Television Cultural Center fire was a massive blaze on 9 February 2009, in the centre of Beijing, involving the uncompleted Beijing Television Cultural Center (TVCC) building. The building was adjacent to the CCTV Headquarters, is owned by China Central Television, and was scheduled for completion in May 2009. The TVCC has been rebuilt and was opened in 2012.

Beijing Television Cultural Center fire
The 44-story TVCC building in flames (right); the CCTV Headquarters (left)
Date9 February 2009
Time8:27 p.m.
LocationBeijing
Also known asTVCC fire
ParticipantsCCTV
OutcomeSeverely damaged by fire
Deaths1
Non-fatal injuries7

At 8:27 p.m. on 9 February 2009, the entire building caught fire on the last day of the festivities marking Chinese New Year and was put out six hours later. A nearby unauthorised fireworks display caused the fire.[1]

The incident, and its coverage by Chinese state media, caused a furor in China. CCTV officials had authorised the powerful pyrotechnics, carried it out without the required permit from local government, and ignored repeated police warnings not to hold them. The authorities' attempts to censor news of the blaze were widely criticised by citizens and the international press.

Background
The TVCC building before the fire

Construction was started in 2004 and was expected to be completed in May 2009.[1][2] The building was to be named "Television Cultural Center", TVCC, with the Beijing Mandarin Oriental being its main tenant.

Its nicknames include the Termite's Nest or the Boot because of its radical design. The building, along with the CCTV Headquarters Building, was built using far less steel than conventional skyscrapers,[3] and designed to withstand major earthquakes.[3] The radical structure gives the towers their form.[3] In all, 140,000 tonnes of steel were used in its construction.[4]

The construction budget of the building is said to be near US$730 million.[5] The center would have included a television studio with seating for 1,500 audience members, recording studios, digital cinemas, news release facilities, and a 241-room five-star hotel to be operated by Mandarin Oriental.[3] The total height of the 44-floor building was 159m.[1][6] The innovative, wedge-shaped building was designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and his firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture. The engineering firm for the building was Arup, East Asia,[7] who designed and built the TVCC after an extensive internal study of the World Trade Center building collapses on 11 September 2001.[8][9]

The fire

The cause has been linked to a massive Chinese New Year fireworks display in the compound, authorized by CCTV itself, without the permission or participation from Beijing police, the Beijing Fire Department, Beijing City government, or any other governmental department.[10][11] CCTV had ignored three consecutive police interventions and warnings and had four television cameras trained on the multi-million yuan fireworks, which consisted of nearly 700 high explosive pyrotechnic devices, reports said.[4]

Six hundred firefighters arrived on the scene to fight the blaze,[12] which lasted five hours and caused one death and seven injuries. Chinese media reported one firefighter – secretary of the fire department's communist party branch – died from smoke inhalation and seven people were injured, six of them firefighters.[1] The Chinese media proclaimed the dead firefighter a "revolutionary martyr"(革命烈士).[13] China Free Press estimated that the fire resulted in more than 4 billion yuan (US$588 million) in damages.[14]

Xinhua reported, and the municipal public security bureau confirmed, that Beijing police detained an official of CCTV. Xu Wei (徐威), in charge of the CCTV construction site, was taken to a police station in eastern Beijing's central business district, suspected of being the organiser of the fireworks display.[15] CCTV later made a public apology:[16]

The fire caused serious damage to the state property, and CCTV is deeply remorseful. It also brought inconvenience to the people living nearby and caused traffic jams, and CCTV expresses sincere apologies.[17]

Cause
The TVCC building after the fire

The Beijing Municipal Fire Brigade confirmed that the cause of fire was the illegal use of highly explosive fireworks at the construction site. CCTV later apologized to the public for the inconvenience, mainly traffic re-direction, they caused.[16] The Fire Brigade said that the fire began on the building's roof and spread to the lower floors, fed by high winds. Toxic fumes and a lack of working sprinklers were said to have hampered efforts to extinguish the fire.[18]

An amateur video that was uploaded on the Internet showed the fire starting after a shell from the fireworks landed on the roof of the uncompleted construction.[18] One CNN report noted that "the top of the building was exploding". Another observed that the fire spread quickly and that the tower was completely engulfed in flames within less than 13 minutes. "It was obvious that there was a lot of debris on site, [which] ignited very quickly".[19]

Investigation

No detailed damage estimate has been released yet. The hotel is insured for US$220 million, with the actual amount of the payout to be decided after the police investigation ends.[20] Immediately after the fire, seventeen people were detained, including the head of construction of the CCTV headquarters site, three additional CCTV staffers, the driver who transported the fireworks, four persons who helped guide the shipment to evade police checkpoints, and eight employees of the fireworks company who set off the display.[20]

According to Caijing, the actual cost of the fireworks display was CNY350,000; however, CCTV was billed 1 million for it by a legal entity controlled by Xu Wei, the construction manager. Xu himself is alleged to have received a commission of CNY80,000.[21]

State media announced in early February 2010 that 71 people were being held responsible for the building fire, including head of CCTV Zhao Huayong, who retired in May 2009; the State Council had evaluated direct economic losses at 163.83 million yuan (US$23.99 million). Of the 71 held responsible, 27 would not be prosecuted but would suffer party and administrative disciplinary measures. Zhao would receive an administrative demotion along with a severe warning from the Communist Party of China.[22] In late February, AFP cited an official in Beijing Number Two Intermediate Court who confirmed 23 people have been charged in the incident. Xu Wei is among those due to be tried, according to state media.[23]

Censorship

A memo from government officials, which was posted on the Internet, made clear that authorities were eager to downplay the blaze, "a colossal embarrassment that many people believe augurs poorly for the new year", according to The New York Times.[18] The leaked memo read: "No photos, no video clips, no in-depth reports," and further, "The news should be put on news areas only and the comments posting areas should be closed".[18]

No images of the blaze or the building were broadcast on state television, and the Xinhua website sidelined the story.[18] CCTV later reported the news with a video on its website after the fire.[24]

Li Xiguang, journalism professor at Beijing's Tsinghua University said the decision not to show coverage was "stupid" and damaged the credibility of CCTV.[25]

Aftermath

Responses from major media

James Fallows of The Atlantic wrote that "the perils of the fireworks and firecrackers are more than a joke.... that people responsible appear to have been CCTV employees; and that the whole subsequent matter of investigating, publicizing, making sense of, and drawing omens from an unignorable spectacle involving the country's leading propaganda/communication outlet and the city's most distinctive new landmark will say a lot about the emotional and political state of China right now."[26]

Chinese netizens became busy finding humor in an otherwise tragic situation and spreading Photoshopped images, mostly at CCTV's expense. A large number of commentaries and spoofs (often using the trendy image of Grass Mud Horse) also reflect netizens' common critical view of CCTV as a powerful and monopoly state-run propaganda machine. Some of the sharper and more critical posts were quickly being deleted by the authorities, but many humorous images and cartoons are being widely distributed.[27]

Jeremy Goldkorn of the Los Angeles Times, who was the editor of a website that tracks Chinese media, said, "[A]mong China's young, educated and urban, the stodgy network (CCTV) has long been a subject of ridicule, both for its low production values and its propagandistic news coverage....But the fire—which engulfed what was to be the Mandarin Oriental hotel, a dramatic, angular tower that stands next to the now-iconic CCTV building—provided a new touchstone for critics, prompting the government to move quickly to mute the outrage."[28]

Internet users in China

Despite the lack of images on the state media, photographs and videotapes of the fire, taken with cameras and cellphones, swiftly found their way to blogs and forums including major portals such as Sina, Sohu, and Youku.[29]

Media reported that Chinese citizens on the internet were taking sarcastic and comical pot-shots at CCTV. It noted there was "a storm" of criticism that the state broadcaster which created one of the year's biggest news stories failed to report the event promptly, or honestly.[4] Parodies of the incident were also rampant, including edited images often relating to other Chinese internet memes, such as the Grass Mud Horse.[30]

Rebuilding
The Beijing Television Cultural Center as seen in July 2011. Construction has resumed after the fire.

The initial images of the blaze suggested that the tower might be nearly destroyed. However Rem Koolhaas said that "they are simply rebuilding it as it was, because there was no structural damage."

The complex's main building, the doughnut-shaped structure, was not damaged. The building, which was originally scheduled to open in 2009, did not see any progress towards opening or being visibly repaired by the end of that year. It is currently being repaired,[31] and is still slated to open.

Mandarin Oriental Beijing was only postponed due to the fire at CCTV's new site. At present, the specific opening time has not yet been known. It is reported that another Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Wangfujing will open first. In addition, the demolition work of Xinyuan Building No. 3 on the north side of the hotel has not been completed (11 years have passed), so the opening hours of CCTV's Mandarin Oriental Hotel will continue to be postponed. The No. 3 Building of Hujialou Xinyuan has also been transformed into a residential building in the core area of the CBD. This has caused great pain and inconvenience to the residents. Since CCTV is still in accordance with the 2001 compensation standard, compared with the rapid development of housing prices today, the gap is huge, so there are still nearly 100 residents in the building. Since the fire in 2009, CCTV has replaced five directors before and after, but it has no question about the demolition of the unfinished residential building.

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See also

References
  1. Andrew Jacobs, Fire Ravages Renowned Building in Beijing, The New York Times, 9 February 2009
  2. OMA CCTV – Television Cultural Centre, China, Beijing, 2002 Archived 12 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Jonathan Glancey, "Beijing's newest skyscraper survives blaze", The Guardian, 11 February 2009
  4. "Credibility of CCTV tarnished by big fire". The Straits Times. The Malaysian Insider. 16 February 2009. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  5. Who will pay the bill for the massive CCTV fire? Archived 24 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Xinhua, 18 February 2009
  6. Emporis.com – TVCC building
  7. Television Cultural Centre Hotel Archived 18 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Arup East Asia
  8. Tall Orders Archived 1 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  9. http://blog.lege.net/content/20060721_htm7_files/download353.pdf
  10. CCTV hotel fire caused by fireworks: official, Xinhua, China Daily, 10 February 2009
  11. 央视新址文化中心火灾引发原因初步查明 (in Chinese)
  12. CCTV Fire: The Aftermath Archived 13 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, CBN, 10 February 2009
  13. AFP, "CCTV inferno fireman given hero's burial" Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 16 February 2009
  14. "Why Reporting on CCTV Complex Fire Censored?". Boxun.com. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  15. "CCTV official detained over massive fire www". Xinhuanet. 12 February 2009. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  16. 视频：中央电视台就在建新址配楼发生火灾真诚道歉, Sohu, 10 February 2009 (in Chinese)
  17. Quentin Sommerville, "Beijing party that went horribly wrong", BBC, 12 February 2009
  18. Andrew Jacobs, China TV Network Apologizes for Fire, The New York Times, 10 February 2009
  19. "Witness: Top of Beijing luxury hotel 'exploding". CNN. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  20. "5 more suspects detained in Beijing hotel fire", Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, 19 February 2009
  21. Smoke Clears, Doubts Linger at CCTV Fire Archived 9 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Caijing, 3 March 2009
  22. 71 held responsible for 2009 CCTV building fire, Xinhua, China Daily, 10 February 2010
  23. 23 to stand trial over CCTV inferno Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, AFP, The Standard, 24 February 2010
  24. 中央电视台新大楼北配楼发生火灾
  25. Calum MacLeod, China plans media empire to boost image, USA Today, 18 February 2009
  26. Fallows, James (11 February 2009). "Just to round out the CCTV fire theme". The Atlantic. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  27. "China State Broadcaster Apologizes for Hotel Fire; Netizens React". China Digital Times. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  28. Spiegel, Peter (11 February 2009). "China's CCTV network gets little sympathy after hotel fire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  29. Rui Bingyou and Liu Peng (12 February 2009). "CCTV Fire Fallout: Twelve Detained; Chinese React Online". The Economic Observer. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  30. "CCTV Fire: Funny Photoshops By Chinese Netizens Posted in Pictures on Tuesday, 10 February 2009". China Smack. 10 February 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  31. https://www.flickr.com/photos/photo-architect/5027050433/, Flickr, 10 September 2010

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