This week's fire-equipment exhibition in Shanghai featured massive water cannons, radar-equipped trucks and a robot designed to put out oil-tank blazes. 

　　本周在上海舉行的消防設備展上，有大量高壓水槍、配備雷達探測設備的消防車登場亮相，還展出了一款設計用來撲滅油罐大火的機器人。

　　But in a city still haunted by the deaths of 58 people at a high-rise nearly a year ago, visited seemed most interested in more modest, personal means they can use to save their own lives, in a testament to the lack of faith many in Shanghai now have with local fire authorities.

　　但在這座仍對近一年前那場造成58人死亡的高層建筑火災心有余悸的城市，參觀者似乎對那些更為普通、可供個人在火災中用來避險求生的消防設備更感興趣，這說明上海的許多人目前對當?shù)叵啦块T缺乏信心。

　　About 260 companies brought their latest firefighting equipment and technologies to the 2011 Shanghai International Fire and Security Technology Equipment Exhibition. At the entrance of the Shanghai Exhibition Center were two aerial ladder trucks made by Iveco Magirus, which allow firefighters to climb as high as 40 meters from the ground. In the courtyard, more than a dozen gigantic fire trucks equipped with radars and water-storage tanks were laid in front of the main hall.

　　大約有260家公司攜帶它們最新的消防設備和技術參加了2011上海國際消防保安技術設備展覽會。在上海展覽中心的入口處，停著兩輛伊維柯-瑪吉魯斯公司（Iveco Magirus）產(chǎn)配備云梯的消防車，消防員可以借助這款車爬到離地面40米高的地方救火。在展覽中心的庭院里，十多輛配有雷達和儲水箱的巨型消防車排列在主展覽廳前面。

　　However, the costly equipment and technologies appear not to draw a large number of eyeballs. 'I'm not coming here because of the exhibition. I want to get some stuff for use in the event of emergencies, ' said Li Ruoqi, a man in his 50s.

　　Rose Yu在消防設備展上展出的滅火器。但這些成本高昂的設備和技術似乎沒有吸引參觀者的太多關注。50多歲的男子李若奇（音）說，我來這里不是為了看這個展覽，我想得到一些在緊急情況下使用的東西。

　　The interest illustrates a lack of simple firefighting measures, such as small extinguishers and fire blankets, that are common in the U.S. and Europe but can be tough to find in Chinese stories. Cao Feng, a sales manager at Zhejiang Yuan Fire Fighting Equipment Co., said gas masks and safety ropes for home use are among the company's bestselling products.

　　參觀者的這種興趣印證了中國缺乏最基本消防措施的現(xiàn)實。舉例來說，小型滅火器和防火毯等在美國和歐洲常見的防火用具在中國發(fā)生的火災事故中往往難見蹤影。浙江宇安消防設備公司的銷售經(jīng)理曹峰（音）說，防毒面罩和家用安全繩索屬于該公司賣得最好的產(chǎn)品。

　　Visitors snapped up masks because most of the victims in the Shanghai fire died inside their own homes, overcome by smoke and toxic fumes, while the popularity of safety ropes highlights concerns over the lax safety practices that are still rife across China's booming construction industry.

　　展會參觀者之所以搶購防毒面罩，是因為上海那場火災的大多數(shù)遇難者都是吸入有毒的煙氣后在自家房間窒息而亡；而安全繩索受到歡迎則彰顯了人們對中國蓬勃發(fā)展的建筑行業(yè)安全措施依然普遍松懈的擔憂。

　　“High-rise residents must have safety ropes,” said Luo Xiang, a middle-aged businessman who lives in the 18 floor of a high-rise apartment building in Shanghai. “I hope I will never use it. But if the misfortune occurs one day, it could help me escape from the misery of being engulfed by the fire.” Mr. Luo paid about 1,000 yuan (US$156) for a 62-meter simple safety rope, which comprises a stainless-steel hook, which included a “how to use it” compact disc.

　　Rose Yu一個用于滅火的機器人。中年商人羅祥（音）住在上海一幢高層建筑的第18層，他說，居住在高層建筑的人必須有安全繩索，我希望自己永遠不會用到它，但如果哪天發(fā)生了不幸的事，安全繩索可能有助于我逃脫陷入火海的困境。羅祥花大約人民幣1,000元買了一根長62米的安全繩索，這一繩索上栓有一個不銹鋼吊鉤，產(chǎn)品附有一張教人如何使用的光碟。

　　Government data show that more than 1,100 people died in fire hazards in China last year, though they exclude certain kinds of industrial accidents. The death toll is much smaller than that of traffic accidents, but recent catastrophic blazes have exposed what appear to be serious inadequacies in fire-safety practices.

　　政府數(shù)據(jù)顯示，中國去年有1,100多人死于火災，不過某些工業(yè)事故導致的遇難者未包括在內。雖然火災遇難者的數(shù)量遠少于交通事故遇難者，但近期發(fā)生的一些災難性火災事故卻暴露出中國消防安全措施的嚴重不足。

　　Though the Shanghai blaze was blamed on unlicensed welders who were using unsafe practices, it has still led to a storm of criticism of the local government. “Either gas masks or fire blankets are only useful when a fire breaks out. It still requires the firefighting authorities to respond and take measures in a swift and effective way to deal with a blaze like last November's,” said Mr. Li.

　　雖然上海那場火災被歸咎于使用不安全施工方法的無證電焊工，但這場災難仍然引發(fā)了人們對當?shù)卣呐u浪潮。李若奇說，當火災發(fā)生時，防毒面罩和防火毯雖然能起到救生作用，但發(fā)生去年11月那樣的火災時，依然需要消防部門做出反應并采取迅速而有效的應對措施。

　　Zhu Liping, chief engineer with the Ministry of Public Security's fire department, has said it's a globally difficult issue to snuff out a high-rise fire, and the rescue by the Shanghai fire department was successful given the bad conditions, such as the lack of platforms at the building for firefighters to climb.

　　中國公安部消防局總工程師朱力平說，撲滅高層建筑火災是一個全球性難題，鑒于當時惡劣的消防條件（比如建筑物缺乏供消防員攀爬的平臺），上海市消防局在去年那場火災中的救援行動是成功的。

　　In the Shanghai blaze, firefighters arrived at the site 15 minutes after they received the emergency call even though the station is just a block from the residential building. Also, it took the ill-equipped firefighters more than four hours to snuff out the fire at the 28-story building, which wasn't especially tall by the standards of China's wealthiest city.

　　這場火災發(fā)生時，盡管消防隊距發(fā)生火災的居民樓僅一個街區(qū)，但消防隊員卻在接到緊急求救電話15分鐘后才趕到火場。此外，救火裝備落后的消防員們用了四個多小時才把這幢28層樓房的大火撲滅。以上海的標準來衡量，這幢建筑并不很高。

　　In addition, a survey by Shanghai University following the catastrophic fire found low awareness of basic fire safety among local residents. The survey said among 221 respondents, around 85% said they had never taken part in a fire drill, and only 5% said they had received training in fire-control and escape procedures. The survey also said nearly 48% didn't know how to use fire-control equipment and about 25% said they knew nothing about how to escape.

　　上海大學在這場火災發(fā)生后進行的一次調查發(fā)現(xiàn)，上海市民對基本的防火安全知識所知甚少。調查顯示，221位受訪者（約占受訪者總數(shù)的85%）說，他們從未參加過消防演習，只有5%的受訪者說他們參加過滅火和逃生培訓。調查還發(fā)現(xiàn)，近48%的受訪者不知道如何使用滅火設備，約25%的受訪者說他們對如何逃生一無所知。