Chongqing—China is facing significant challenges from its aging population. According to China Daily, roughly 14.9% of the nation's population is 65 or older. This issue is more acute in Chongqing's Banan district, the city's largest urban area, where 21.83% of the population exceeds 60 years of age.

To address challenges like the limited self-rescue ability of the elderly living alone, poor inter-departmental coordination in guardianship, and frequent fires, the district has shifted from traditional fire prevention methods to digital solutions.

Banan District has introduced the "One Thing for Fire Safety Guardianship of Elderly People Living Alone" app to improve fire safety for elderly individuals living alone through digital management.

Jiang Mengxiao from Banan District's Fire Rescue Brigade highlighted that the app explicitly tackles the issues solitary elderly face: their lack of attention, delayed awareness, and slow response to safety threats.

The "One Thing for Fire Safety Guardianship of Elderly People Living Alone" app now features multiple developed scenarios, incorporating a "three-color warning" high-risk model and a closed-loop disposal process that involves comprehensive governance and collaboration with fire safety, health, community grids, and utility entities.

Banan District has created an online data repository for 19,000 elderly individuals living alone, each with a detailed safety profile including personal, health, and housing information, along with smoking habits and guardianship details. This enables "one household, one code" intelligent management.

"Earlier, we completed the development of warning and guardianship scenarios, selecting 100 households of elderly people living alone in Jiangjia Town, Banan District, for pilot testing," said Jiang. We installed unified fire, electricity, and gas IoT sensing devices, pioneering the establishment of the city's first town-level intelligent fire warning and dispatch center."

Elderly resident Wang Chaozhen noted, "I live alone, and my children have all moved to the city. Last year, local officials provided the 'One Thing for Fire Safety Guardianship of Elderly People Living Alone' app for free and upgraded my home's electrical wiring."

Wang recalled that once when her house was filled with cooking fumes, village officials quickly intervened to assist her, with the app addressing all these concerns comprehensively. "I feel very safe and reassured," Wang said.

Jiang explained that if a fire breaks out in the home of a solitary elderly person, an on-site alarm will activate. Simultaneously, the system platform alerts the elderly individual, their guardians, local grid personnel, and village officials via warning text messages.

Upon receiving an emergency alert, automated voice calls remind the elderly person and their guardians to prepare for emergencies. Grid personnel quickly respond to the scene to manage the situation and update the platform with the results.

Before this year's Spring Festival, Jiang's team installed carbon monoxide alarms in 1,100 homes of elderly people living alone across seven higher-altitude towns and connected them to their monitoring platform. The system identified over 300 potential hazards, and grid personnel confirmed and addressed these on-site, preventing nine potential carbon monoxide poisoning incidents.

By the end of July this year, the "One Thing for Fire Safety Guardianship of Elderly People Living Alone" app platform will be completed, covering 19,000 households in 23 towns and streets across the district, ensuring its effectiveness in real-world scenarios.