Reprimand and Forced Transfer of Protesting Firefighters in the Plasco Case

A member of the Tehran City Council criticized the continued lack of funding for firefighting and the absence of fire extinguishing facilities in buildings over 40 meters tall, reporting that after the Plasco incident, some protesting firefighters have been "reprimanded" and "forcibly" transferred from their workplaces. According to ISNA, Ahmad Masjed-Jamei stated on Friday, April 20, that despite the publication of a "national report" on the Plasco incident, there is still a need to form a fact-finding committee to identify the "culprits and violators" and prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. According to Mr. Masjed-Jamei, based on the report from the Technical Committee of the City Council, the fire department was unable to transfer water to a height of 40 meters, which is the upper floors of the Plasco building, due to a lack of equipment. He emphasized that many of the towers for which construction permits have been issued exceed 40 meters in height, and the fire department lacks the necessary equipment to extinguish potential fires in these buildings. This member of the Tehran City Council also mentioned that the municipality has not paid 198 billion tomans of the fire department's budget to this organization. Previously, several members of the Tehran City Council and experts had stated that the fire truck ladder only reached the 11th floor of the Plasco building, and spraying water from a distance caused the fire to remain unextinguished and only made the building heavier. Mr. Masjed-Jamei also noted that the evacuation order for the Plasco building was issued 31 minutes before the building collapsed, but there is ambiguity as to whether someone else violated this order or if the order did not reach some firefighters. According to this member of the Tehran City Council, some firefighters have reported that their requests have gone unanswered and have faced "even in some cases a type of reprimand and unwanted transfer." Members of the "Special Committee for the National Report on the Plasco Building Incident" had previously announced that the evacuation order was issued "too late" and "after the collapse." This committee presented its report on this incident to President Hassan Rouhani on April 5, accusing the Foundation of the Oppressed, Tehran Municipality, Ministry of Cooperatives, Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, Ministry of Interior, Plasco Building Council, Tehran Fire and Safety Services Organization, and Traffic Police of "negligence" in performing their duties. In this context, two simple workers were identified as responsible for the fire in the Plasco building, and seven organizations and ministries were accused of negligence in the Plasco building incident.