The Fire Services Bureau (CB) responded in the first six months of this year to 455 fires, a year-on-year increase of 44 call outs, or 10.71 percent, of which 296 were occasioned by unattended cooking, electrical short circuits, embers from joss sticks, incense papers and other kindling items, as well as mechanical and electrical failures, accounting for 65.05 percent of the total.
CB spokesman Lei Long Kit announced yesterday the bureau’s fire and rescue incident statics during a press conference at the CB headquarters in Nam Van, urging members of the public to switch off their cooking equipment and electrical appliances before going out, and to handle their cigarette ends and other embers with care in their daily lives, to avoid causing damage to property in “a moment’s carelessness”.
Lei was quick to add that the number of incidents in which there was no need to use the fire hose stood at 375, accounting for 82.42 percent of the total number of fires attended.
The number of incidents ambulances responded to grew from 20,913 recorded in the first six months of last year to 23,207 this year, a year-on-year growth of 10.97 percent, of which dizziness, abdominal pain, fever, palpitation and vomiting continued to be the leading causes, accounting for 12,795, or 55.13 percent of the total, Lei said, pointing out: “The increase was mainly due to an increase in minor discomforts such as fever, dizziness and headache. Ambulances are always a precious and limited resource and they should be reserved for residents in need and should not be abused.”
Lei noted that a total of 3,076 attendances for special services were recorded between January and June this year, a year-on-year rise of 2,296, or 33.97 percent: “The bureau has increased the inspection of fire hydrants in various districts, including the Zone A land reclamation area and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge artificial island, to ensure that the fire protection systems in the community can operate properly”.
In terms of fire safety, according to Lei, in the first half of the year, CB officers conducted 7,271 safety inspections in 1,683 buildings with a total of 17,971 households, including 642 inspections in 1,209 low-rise buildings in the city’s old quarters. Lei said: “For cases in which repeated advice was not heeded or the situation was serious, a total of 10 cases from January to June this year, and a total of 44 cases since the amended legislation on fire safety in buildings and certain outdoor venues came into effect on August 17, 2022, resulted in fines, mainly due to the placing of miscellaneous items, shoe racks and motorcycles in buildings’ evacuation routes.”
The Fire Services Bureau also carried out 10,924 dangerous goods safety screenings and inspections at the city’s industrial buildings, petrol stations, oil depots, midway depots, restaurants, shops selling dangerous goods-related products, as well as hazardous goods and fuel storage facilities in the first half of this year, of which, Lei quoted the report as noting, four were fined for breaching the Law on the Control of Dangerous Substances.
Fire Services Bureau (CB) senior officers Lao Song Wai (from left to right), Lei Long Kit, and Ieong Sai On look on during yesterday’s press conference at the CB headquarters in Nam Van. – Photo: Yuki Lei
