Taichung City Fire Bureau held the First Fire Protection Education Contest on January 20, with 46 teams vying for the Fire Prevention Cup at Tiger City Mall, performing dramatic skits about fire fighting and fire prevention. Mayor Hu awarded medals and prize to the winners.

　　Chingnien Senior High School won the gold medal for “Water Boiling,” Changhwa Women’s Promulgation Team was awarded the silver medal, and Tanzih Women’s Promulgation Team won the bronze. Dongshang Junior High School and the junior department of Shiyuan High School were selected as distinguished performers. Individual award winners included the Changhwa Women’s Promulgation Team, was awarded with best script, and A-Mei of Chingnien Senior High School was awarded best performers.

　　 There was no age limit to the contest, and the performances ranged from 5 to 7 minutes. Sixteen teams were selected for the semifinals, and these dramas were performed by students from elementary, junior high, and senior high schools, as well as colleges, and other groups.

　　The semifinalists included groups from Situn Elementary School, Dongshang Junior High School, junior department of Shiyuan Senior High School, Chingnien Senior High School, Viator High School, the Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Fengchia University, and others from outside Taichung City.

　　In addition to the creative and humorous firefighting skits, lottery and raffle prizes, including an LCD TV, a digital TV signed by Yankees pitcher Wang, Chien-ming, baseballs with Wang’s duplicate signature, television sets, digital cameras, mobile phones, MP3, MP4, and DVD players, were given to lucky audience members.

　　Some contestants impersonated Joline Tsai and Jay Chou on the stage to promote fire fighting activities, as well as charming CO(Carbon monoxide) Kid with guest appearance that surprised the audiences. All judges were moved by their performances.

　　Mayor Hu noted that Taichung City reported 155 fire accidents last year, with 50 percent less property damage and death compared to the year before, making Taichung city the national leader in fire safety. The Fire Bureau stated that Taichung City’s fire occurrence rate in 2006 was 1.48 per 10,000 people, down from 1.70 in 2005. Property damage from fire declined from 47 dollars per person in 2005 to 23 dollars per person in 2006, a 51 percent decrease and a record low.