一场意外的火灾 An Accidental Fire

Hello and welcome to another edition of  Frontline, the weekly feature story brought to you by China Radio International. I'm your host, Wu Jia.

Courts play an important role in maintaining justice in society. No mercy or emotional acts should be spared in the process of sentencing. However, it is not always best to let the courts rule. Sometimes playing a mediator can solve issues in a more reasonable way. Today we will follow our reporter Yang Lei to the country's southwest to hear a story from a local village.

"We ran because we were in fear since they said they would beat and kill us.”

He Liying [Photo: CCTV]

He Liying and her family lived in a village in Rongshui county in Liuzhou in southwestern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region. Five years ago, she married He Yongji from the same village. The couple found jobs in the city two years after and had a baby. Life appeared to be happy and fulfilling for both of them.

However, over the Spring Festival in 2006, the village turned against the couple.

"I had to take my child to my mother's."

The ones who hated her followed her to the mother's.

"They came threatening to kill us. I had to hide in the village authority's facilities."

However, furious villagers continued the hunt. He Liying had to take her child and ran out of the village to hide in the city.

He Liying is a simple woman. She had uncomplicated relationships with everyone. In addition to working in the city, she also farmed at home. The family was an ordinary one: eating, drinking and behaving the same way as the other ones in the village. From every angle, He Liying was just a common person. What made her so hated? What happened to the family?

"The villagers hated her. Everyone hated her very much."

The village is called Panrong. It is a beautiful one with a population of more than 400. They are all of the Dong ethnicity, an ethnic minority group living mainly in southwestern China. Most of villagers share the surname “He” and have lived peacefully together for years.

However, the villagers could not accept He Liying's family.

"I would not allow her to live here forever."

What really happened? Let's go back in time. The accident started on the fourth day of the Chinese New Year.

The day was supposed to be a get-together when all the villagers would sing and dance together to celebrate the Spring Festival. However, a disaster occurred at around 6pm that day.

"Help! Help, fire! Fire accident!"

"We couldn't approach or even go closer than 50 meters."

The sudden fire soon spread to houses in the neighboring areas. The situation was chaotic as the villagers, who were happily celebrating, ran amuck trying desperately to save their properties.

"My child screamed, 'I want mom, I want mom!'"

The fire strengthened. It scared not only the children, but also the adults. Everyone was thinking about running for his life.

"I couldn't run out, so I had to jump out of the window with only a quilt."

"We were scared to see the fire becoming so strong."

Some of the villagers managed to think of asking for help and called 119, the fire emergency telephone number.

"The road conditions were very bad. We could hardly enter."

The village was 80 kilometers away from the county seat. The mountainous roads were terrible. Large cars could hardly enter the village. The villagers had to save themselves.

"We could not approach the flames. We couldn't pour water by hand. We had to watch it from a distance."

"My family only has a water tank. Every family has only one. Three or four buckets of water couldn't extinguish the fire at all."

The villagers had to fetch a pump.

Dong houses are made only of wood and are built next to each other. After only 10 minutes, the fire spread to all the houses in the village. The sky lit up with big fiery flames.

"Our houses were built one next to the other. Once one caught on fire, another one soon would catch on fire. We could do nothing."

Realizing there was no way to put out the fire, the villagers began to save their own properties.

"We had to bury things under the earth. Otherwise, it would have burned. I was very worried. After I finished, I tried to help others."

But the fire was too strong to for the villagers, who could only watch their houses being devoured by the fire.

"My mum wore only her slippers that night."

In less than two hours, the fire consumed everything, including houses belonging to 58 families. More than 400 people were homeless.

"We had nothing to do at the beginning but look for help from relatives. We slept with them at night, one relative's family after another."

"We had no mood for the festival. Everyone was crying at the time." Since the houses were all made of wood, which is easy to catch on fire, villagers are very careful in dealing with fire. Where and how did the fire start?

Different people have different versions of the story.

"At the time, we were not sure about the cause, whether it was accidental or human carelessness."

People discussed it and someone pointed out that it started from the He home.

"When it started, my husband ran and found it had started from He Liying's house."

He Liying and her husband lived most of the time outside the village. They only came back during important holiday gatherings. The villagers decided to go and interrogate the family.

However, they found no one there but an empty house.

He Liying had run away! It definitely led to the villagers believing she had run away to escape the guilt. He Liying's house was right at the center of the village, so it was very easy for the fire to have spread from there. If He Liying was the arsonist, why did she do that?

The firemen finally arrived at the village and carried out an investigation.

"After a field investigation, we found there was no trace of an electrical wire burn. We thought it was more likely caused by human error." 

Who started the strong fire? The court had to carry out an investigation into the case, which involves millions of yuan in losses.

"The amount was too big. If the defendant is not able to repay, it will be a problem in the future."

Please stay tuned for this week's Frontline: An accidental Fire.

A big fire burned down Panrong village in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. After investigation, the firemen excluded the possibility of accidental causes such as overloaded electrical wires and self-igniting wood. The villagers were surprised about the conclusion. How on earth could it be true that it was He Liying who started the fire? The key was to find out where she was.

After searching for a long time, He Liying was found in another village. However, she denied she was the arsonist.

"I myself also ran out with few clothes on and nothing else."

Why did she run away after the fire?

"I was just trying to protect my son."

He Liying also found it strange how the fire started. She remembered that she was teaching her child pinyin before the fire started.

"I said to my son that he hadn't had a bath and I should go and draw some hot water for him. He replied and stayed alone."

He Liying left her son in the room and went into the kitchen. Only after she lit the matches did she hear her neighbors screaming.

"They yelled, 'Your house is on fire!'"

He Liying immediately took a bucket of water to the room only to find that the fire was already too big for her to put out herself.

"I had to run out. I took my son with me."

The boy cried loudly. He Liying soon took him away to another village.

"I thought it was because of the overloaded electrical wire."

He Liying herself had no idea how the fire started.
After much trouble, people found He Liying. She herself didn't have any clue how the fire started. After investigation, the firemen found the fire started from He Liying's bedroom. However, at the time, she was in the kitchen.

At the time, nobody had any clue what had happened. Thanks to the firemen, a burn was found on He Liying's son's hand at last.

"I found there was a scar on his hand. It must have been caused by some burning drips."

Since He Liying took away her son to a safe place right after the fire started, how could it be possible that her son burned his hand at the time?

The firemen asked the boy what had happened.

"The boy said he ignited something with the lighter."

How could it be possible for a three-year-old boy to have a lighter? Where did the lighter come from?

The villagers reported to firemen that they saw the boy had bought a lighter at the grocer's to play with firecrackers.

He Liying didn't know there was a lighter in her son's pocket. When she left for the kitchen that evening, the boy took out the lighter to play with it.

"He used the lighter to light the map on the wall."

Ashes burned the boy's hand. The anti-mosquito tent beside caught fire next and started the inferno.

The cause of the accident was discovered at last. The fire caused the village economic losses of 1.7 million yuan. Now, more than 400 people were homeless. Worse, the fire took place during the winter. The whole village was in dire straits and great need of help.

"Everything burned. My mother was wearing only slippers that night."

"We had nothing, not even a house to stay in, during the holiday. We were so angry at the time, we said we'd beat them whenever we saw them."
Villagers all blamed He Liying for allowing her child to play with fire. As a mother, she should have been more attentive.

"As guardians, adults should be responsible for what their children do."

Once again, villagers turned to He Liying for solutions. However, she disappeared again.

"It was not many, but everyone was angry at me."

Without informing any of the villagers, He Liying snuck out of the village with her son.

"I could not forgive the parents. After all, the son was a kid. Kids should be instructed by parents."

The villagers all believed that as the guardians, He Liying and her husband should compensate them for the total losses.

Since He Liying's husband was making a living in town, it was very likely that He Liying went to hide where her husband was. The villagers decided to sue the couple in Liuzhou city.

The news that more than 400 people became homeless was immediately reported to the local government. The county official soon arrived at Panrong village with rice and quilts for the poor villagers.

"Each person would be given 15 kilos of rice every month. Every two people were given a quilt. Other necessary daily necessities had also been distributed. We had ensured that nobody would suffer from hunger and cold."

The situation calmed down a little bit. But after knowing all about the case, the judge at the local court found it a very thorny case.

"The amount was too big. If the defendant was not able to repay, it would be a problem in the future."

It was easy to reach a verdict, but really hard to carry out the ruling since the defendant's home was also burned down. Could He Liying's family compensate the villagers for such a large amount of money?

"We knew that the defendant also suffered from the fire accident. Regardless of fairness, it would be really hard for the defendant to pay off the required amount."

Finally, court staff found He Liying and her husband at a coal factory. She was doing the heavy work of loading coal just like a man.

"If we both worked, we would earn more than 50. If only he worked, we would get more than 30."

The monthly income of the family was only a little more than a thousand yuan.

What's more, the boy attended kindergarten. On top of basic daily consumption, the family could save very little.

"We promised that we would make up for our mistakes. But we could not give so much money right now. We asked them to make the compensation amount smaller."

It was all because she was afraid of not being able to pay off the compensation that He Liying dared not go home. This made the villagers even more furious. They claimed they would beat and kill her if possible. After knowing all this, the court tried to mediate.

The first solution the court thought of was that He Liying's parents should apologize to the whole village in public.

"My parents first apologized to all the villagers."

The villagers were kind people. After the apology, they calmed down a little bit. Thirteen families in the village decided not to sue He Liying's family. But 45 families still insisted on compensation.

"What if this kind of accident occurs again? We must sue them."

 Finally, all sides met each other in the meeting room of the court.

The judge tried to explain the whole situation to every side. Finally, they reached the following agreement.

He Liying would compensate the villagers 28 thousand yuan before a specified date.

He Liying would give the villagers the remaining 17 thousand yuan within two years.

"We had calculated their incomes. Both of them could earn 15 hundred yuan a month. They said they could repay at most 85 hundred in a year."
After 10 months, the villagers received their first sum of compensation. Thought it was only several hundred yuan, the hatred between the family and the villagers now disappeared.

"I thought it was a reasonable solution. Everyone was happy at last."

"I hope everyone can treat me as kindly as before."

He Liying said she would work in the city for another few years to repay the money.

Actually, civil affairs cases usually involve neighbors, friends and relatives. Sometimes the court can solve problems better by mediating. We hope that He Liying's family can live peacefully together with the village.