“Thump, thump, thump…”
Just as everyone was in a daze, a young man rushed upstairs and shouted to the crowd, “Oh no, there’s a fire downstairs…”
Hearing this, the other factory leaders, including Factory Director Xu, were stunned.
Their first reaction wasn’t to flee, nor to go downstairs to investigate, but to turn their gaze collectively toward Li Yi.
Just moments ago, this man had warned them that the factory’s wiring was a safety hazard. Who would have thought a fire would break out the very next moment? Should they praise him for his foresight, or blame him for being a jinx?
Zhang Ziqiang was the first to react. He charged ahead, shielding Li Yi as they ran downstairs.
The others followed suit, close behind.
When they ran down from the second floor, they found that several areas on the first floor were already ablaze, with Xue Jianming and others organizing the workers to put out the fire.
Seeing Li Yi and the others coming down from upstairs, Xue Jianming immediately stepped forward and said, “Factory Director, leaders, it’s dangerous here. Please get out first!”
“Alright, hurry up and put out the fire. We must save this lumber—it took our factory a lot of effort to get it!” said Factory Director Xu.
“Yes…”
While Director Xu was assigning tasks to Xue Jianming, Li Yi was assessing the fire on the first floor.
There were at least three separate fire points. Judging by the billowing black smoke rising from the flames, it was highly likely that chemical raw materials had been ignited.
With a fire of this magnitude, it wouldn’t be easy to extinguish it without professional firefighting equipment.
But he had just seen the building’s fire safety equipment—it was clearly just for show.
Relying solely on manual labor to carry water and put out the fire was clearly impossible, so… this building was likely doomed.
Li Yi couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled. Logically, the fire wasn’t supposed to break out until several days later—so why had it suddenly erupted now?
Moreover, he had specifically instructed Xue Jianming and the others to hurry up with the inspections and make sure to clear away all flammable materials in the vicinity. They had clearly agreed to do so—so how could this have happened?
Just as Li Yi was deep in thought, news of the fire had already reached the two workshops up ahead. A large number of workers, carrying various tools, rushed over to help put out the fire.
Others worked together to move raw materials and finished products out of the warehouse.
This was partly to facilitate firefighting efforts and partly out of concern that these items might also catch fire, aiming to minimize losses.
Of course, others rushed to the factory office to call the fire department!
Most of the workers and managers these days were people of strong conviction; when an accident occurred, their first thought wasn’t to save themselves, but to protect the collective’s property.
However, despite the large number of people who had arrived, the fire remained out of control and, in fact, grew even more intense.
In no time at all, thick smoke was billowing and flames were shooting skyward from the southwest corner of the first floor.
Since the firefighting equipment was essentially useless, and the buckets and basins the workers were carrying couldn’t reach the heart of the blaze, the fire was gradually threatening to spiral out of control.
Seeing this, Li Yi immediately turned to Plant Manager Xu standing nearby and said, “The fire is getting out of control. We should evacuate the workers now, or there could be casualties!”
“But if we let the fire burn like this, this building will be ruined!” Factory Director Xu said anxiously.
“A building can be rebuilt, but once people are gone, they’re truly gone!” Li Yi shouted.
Hearing this, Plant Manager Xu fell silent.
He cast a sorrowful glance at the complex building, billowing with thick smoke, and finally, gritting his teeth, gave the order for the employees to evacuate the building!
As the employees fighting the fire withdrew from the warehouse, the blaze, no longer contained, raged even more fiercely.
Hundreds of workers and officials gathered in front of the administrative building, watching the raging inferno. Every face wore an expression of grief, anger, and heartbreak; some female workers even shed tears.
Others were worried about the money and belongings left in the dormitories; some even tried to rush inside to salvage their personal possessions, but they were all stopped.
Just as the crowd was on the verge of despair, the sound of fire trucks could be heard approaching.
Before long, four fire trucks pulled into the furniture factory’s courtyard. A large contingent of firefighters rushed out of the vehicles and began fighting the fire.
High-pressure water cannons were aimed at the inferno, and streams of water gushed out in torrents…
………
Taking advantage of a lull in the firefighters’ efforts, Li Yi called Xue Jianming over and asked him for details about the fire.
According to Xue Jianming, right after Li Yi and the others went upstairs, he immediately summoned the factory’s electrician, Old Qiao, intending to have him and a few apprentices inspect the wiring.
At the same time, he had called over several dozen employees from the warehouse to help move the flammable materials out of the way.
However, unexpectedly, just as Old Qiao opened the electrical meter box, a sudden spark flew out.
As the sparks fell, they ignited the weathered wire insulation and landed in a bucket of glue on the floor, causing the fire to erupt instantly.
At the same time, in addition to the meter box, short circuits caused fires in two other locations.
With multiple fires breaking out and no professional firefighting equipment at hand, they were unable to handle everything at once, ultimately causing the fire to spiral out of control.
After hearing Xue Jianming’s explanation, Li Yi immediately understood—the meter box must have been faulty for quite some time.
If no one had touched it, it might have held out for a few more days, but the moment someone opened it, it triggered the latent hazard.
“Why didn’t you turn off the main circuit breaker before opening the meter box?” Li Yi asked, frowning.
“Well… I don’t know what Old Qiao was thinking…”
Li Yi knew Xue Jianming wasn’t to blame for this; it was simply a matter of fate.
The only silver lining was that at this hour, the employees were all at work, and there was no one upstairs. Even if this building were to burn to the ground, the loss would be limited to material possessions.
Unlike in his previous life, this fire didn’t result in over a hundred casualties!
Li Yi had reviewed the records of this fire. According to the case files, when the fire broke out, the workers had just finished their shift and were resting in their dormitories. Upon seeing the flames, they immediately ran downstairs from the upper floors, intending to escape the fire.
But the first floor had already turned into a sea of flames, making escape impossible. The only safe passage separating the first-floor warehouse had long been blocked by clutter, rendering it impassable as the fire raged.
Seeing this, the workers hurried back to the second floor, intending to bypass the production workshop via the second-floor corridor to reach the third floor and wait for rescue. But the workers on the third floor had no idea what was happening below; as soon as they heard the factory was on fire, they rushed frantically toward the second floor.
How could the narrow second-floor corridor possibly accommodate so many people at once? In an instant, those going up and those coming down became a chaotic mass, trampling one another as they piled up in a heap.
As the fire continued to spread, the blaze on the first floor had already reached the second floor. The rising heat and billowing smoke caused the workers still trapped on the second floor to let out heart-wrenching screams.
But because chaos had already erupted throughout the factory, the workers who hadn’t managed to squeeze into the second-floor corridor were burned alive, resulting in more than a dozen casualties in that single wave.
Some refused to stand on the second floor and wait for death, so they grabbed a piece of fabric and rushed into the inferno, only to vanish into the billowing smoke, never to be seen again.
As the fire continued to spread, some workers attempted to pry open the windows and glass of the second-floor workshop, intending to jump to their escape.
But the flames on the first floor had already heated the iron window frames to a glowing red; the female workers’ strength alone was no match for prying them open, and they would only be burned beyond recognition, their bodies reduced to a bloody mess.
Some desperate workers began running to the third-floor roof, leaping down in the hope of being rescued. But the three-story building was over ten meters high; jumping down meant certain death or, at best, severe disability.
As time ticked by, more and more people jumped from the third floor, only to be quickly engulfed by the raging fire upon hitting the ground. The scene was horrific, with bodies strewn everywhere.
It wasn’t until firefighters arrived that they immediately deployed high-pressure water cannons in an attempt to extinguish the blaze.
After more than two hours of continuous firefighting efforts, this horrific tragedy finally came to an end. The sustained high-temperature fire had turned the entire factory into a living hell; over a hundred workers perished in the flames, and the scene was littered with charred bodies and a sickening smell of burnt flesh…
Although the scene before him was equally heartbreaking, and the losses at the furniture factory were undoubtedly significant, at least there were no casualties—which was a stroke of luck in the midst of this tragedy!
Just as Li Yi was lost in thought, he saw Factory Director Xu, who had just finished speaking with the fire chief, walking toward him…
………