On a flight from Shanghai to Singapore in early September, Mr. Wang’s mid-air realization that he’d left his gas stove on sparked a rapid chain of events. After Mr. Wang alerted a flight attendant, the pilot contacted ground services, initiating an emergency response.
Mr. Wang provided his home address, door lock code, and the contact information for his building management. Within 20 minutes, the ground service team made three crucial calls.
Initially, building management was hesitant, questioning the request to enter Mr. Wang’s apartment. On the second call, Shanghai airport staff stressed the urgency, explaining the situation and source of the information. Building management took the apartment details and access code, promising to investigate. Ten minutes later, they confirmed that Mr. Wang's gas stove was still on, burning food and filling the apartment with smoke. A potential fire was successfully averted.
Relieved, Mr. Wang expressed his gratitude from the cabin, saying, "Thank you for saving my home,".
The story quickly spread across Chinese social media, garnering thousands of comments praising the ground service team's quick action in preventing a potential disaster.
This isn’t an isolated incident. In 2022, a woman flying from Nanjing to Kunming panicked 50 minutes after takeoff, fearing she had left her gas on. She contacted the cabin crew, who coordinated with building management. While the stove was off and the gas valve closed, the incident highlighted the common fear of leaving a gas stove on.
More recently, on 6/9, Mr. Ye returned to his home in Yuhuan, Zhejiang province, after a 27-day business trip to discover his gas stove had been burning the entire time. He had been brewing traditional medicine before leaving and forgotten to turn it off. The pot had burned dry, the base charred white, and the surrounding tiles cracked.
Globally, gas stoves are a leading cause of residential fires. Experts emphasize the importance of fire safety habits, including checking stoves, extinguishing flames, and closing gas valves before leaving home or going to bed. They advise against cooking while distracted, recommend stoves with automatic shut-off features, and encourage installing smoke and gas leak detectors. Having emergency response protocols in place, like the one used in Mr. Wang’s case, is also crucial.
Nhat Minh (*Sina/163/ccaonline*)
