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. 

　　本周在上海举行的消防设备展上，有大量高压水枪、配备雷达探测设备的消防车登场亮相，还展出了一款设计用来扑灭油罐大火的机器人。

　　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.

　　但在这座仍对近一年前那场造成58人死亡的高层建筑火灾心有余悸的城市，参观者似乎对那些更为普通、可供个人在火灾中用来避险求生的消防设备更感兴趣，这说明上海的许多人目前对当地消防部门缺乏信心。

　　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.

　　大约有260家公司携带它们最新的消防设备和技术参加了2011上海国际消防保安技术设备展览会。在上海展览中心的入口处，停着两辆伊维柯-玛吉鲁斯公司（Iveco Magirus）产配备云梯的消防车，消防员可以借助这款车爬到离地面40米高的地方救火。在展览中心的庭院里，十多辆配有雷达和储水箱的巨型消防车排列在主展览厅前面。

　　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在消防设备展上展出的灭火器。但这些成本高昂的设备和技术似乎没有吸引参观者的太多关注。50多岁的男子李若奇（音）说，我来这里不是为了看这个展览，我想得到一些在紧急情况下使用的东西。

　　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.

　　参观者的这种兴趣印证了中国缺乏最基本消防措施的现实。举例来说，小型灭火器和防火毯等在美国和欧洲常见的防火用具在中国发生的火灾事故中往往难见踪影。浙江宇安消防设备公司的销售经理曹峰（音）说，防毒面罩和家用安全绳索属于该公司卖得最好的产品。

　　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.

　　展会参观者之所以抢购防毒面罩，是因为上海那场火灾的大多数遇难者都是吸入有毒的烟气后在自家房间窒息而亡；而安全绳索受到欢迎则彰显了人们对中国蓬勃发展的建筑行业安全措施依然普遍松懈的担忧。

　　“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一个用于灭火的机器人。中年商人罗祥（音）住在上海一幢高层建筑的第18层，他说，居住在高层建筑的人必须有安全绳索，我希望自己永远不会用到它，但如果哪天发生了不幸的事，安全绳索可能有助于我逃脱陷入火海的困境。罗祥花大约人民币1,000元买了一根长62米的安全绳索，这一绳索上栓有一个不锈钢吊钩，产品附有一张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.

　　政府数据显示，中国去年有1,100多人死于火灾，不过某些工业事故导致的遇难者未包括在内。虽然火灾遇难者的数量远少于交通事故遇难者，但近期发生的一些灾难性火灾事故却暴露出中国消防安全措施的严重不足。

　　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.

　　虽然上海那场火灾被归咎于使用不安全施工方法的无证电焊工，但这场灾难仍然引发了人们对当地政府的批评浪潮。李若奇说，当火灾发生时，防毒面罩和防火毯虽然能起到救生作用，但发生去年11月那样的火灾时，依然需要消防部门做出反应并采取迅速而有效的应对措施。

　　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.

　　中国公安部消防局总工程师朱力平说，扑灭高层建筑火灾是一个全球性难题，鉴于当时恶劣的消防条件（比如建筑物缺乏供消防员攀爬的平台），上海市消防局在去年那场火灾中的救援行动是成功的。

　　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.

　　这场火灾发生时，尽管消防队距发生火灾的居民楼仅一个街区，但消防队员却在接到紧急求救电话15分钟后才赶到火场。此外，救火装备落后的消防员们用了四个多小时才把这幢28层楼房的大火扑灭。以上海的标准来衡量，这幢建筑并不很高。

　　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.

　　上海大学在这场火灾发生后进行的一次调查发现，上海市民对基本的防火安全知识所知甚少。调查显示，221位受访者（约占受访者总数的85%）说，他们从未参加过消防演习，只有5%的受访者说他们参加过灭火和逃生培训。调查还发现，近48%的受访者不知道如何使用灭火设备，约25%的受访者说他们对如何逃生一无所知。