The Fire Services Bureau (CB) announced yesterday that more than half of the cases among the fires recorded in the first half of the year were leaving naked flames and forgetting to turn off the gas stove, reminding members of the public to turn off stoves and electrical appliances before leaving their flats, and to handle cigarette ends and joss stick embers carefully to ensure fire safety.
CB official Lei Long Kit made the remarks during a press conference announcing the first half of the year’s fire statistics at the CB headquarters near Macau Tower.
Macau recorded 411 fires in the first half of the year, down by 4.42 percent, or 19 cases, year on year, among which over half of the fires were mainly due to unattended stoves, short circuits of electric appliances, machine malfunctions and embers from burning joss sticks and incense papers, accounting for 54.99 percent of the total fires, according to Lei.
Statistics show that the bureau’s firefighting, rescue, emergency and ambulance services plus other special operations totalled 20,913 in the first half of the year, a decrease of 998, or 4.55 percent, according to Lei.
Lei said the bureau calls on members of the public to reserve ambulance resources for those in need and not to abuse ambulance services, adding that motorists should give way to ambulances on duty when it is safe to do so, so that firefighters can carry out rescue and ambulance work as soon as possible.
17 households fined for breaching fire safety law
The legislation on fire safety in buildings and certain outdoor venues came into effect on August 17 last year, after which the bureau carried out a number of initiatives to raise public awareness of the new law, adding that fines have been levied on 17 households from October to July this year, which have repeatedly blocked emergency exits, involving the placing of trolleys, chairs, shoe racks and other sundry items, which are serious unlawful acts under the new law. Nine of the households have paid their fines, Lei said.
To enhance the overall fire safety of residential buildings, the bureau had conducted training courses for fire safety officers, with over 8,600 people trained in the first half of the year, according to Lei.
The government’s hazardous materials law will take effect on August 23, with the bureau strengthening the publicity on the legislation, adding that in the first half of this year, 5,611 fire safety inspections were carried out, among which 2,682 hazardous materials safety inspections were carried out at petrol stations, warehouses for hazardous materials and their storage facilities, Lei said.
CO poisoning
According to Lei, the bureau had received 11 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning during the first half of this year, adding that the bureau will strengthen the publicity on the proper use of gas water heaters.
The bureau also reminded members of the public not to install gas appliances on their own, but to get them installed by specialist personnel in accordance with the product guidelines, and to get their gas appliances regularly inspected by the respective suppliers and specialists, Lei said.
This chart provided by the Fire Services Bureau (CB) yesterday shows the fire statistics during the first half of this year.
