The Fire Services Bureau (CB) announced on Friday that the number of fire alerts in 2025 dropped by 3.36 percent to 850 compared to 2024.
The Fire Services Bureau hosted the annual press conference at its headquarters next to Sai Van Lake, near Macau Tower, where Wong Kin, the bureau’s commissioner, announced its statistics on fire alerts, ambulance call-outs, and other rescue incidents for 2025.
According to Wong, the bureau attended to 53,190 incidents in 2025, a decrease of 1.74 percent from the 54,133 recorded in 2024. Among the 53,190 incidents, 45,370 involved ambulance call-outs, up 0.3 percent year-on-year.
Wong said that the 53,190 incidents recorded in 2025 included 850 fire alerts, a decrease of 3.36 percent from the 882 in the same period of 2024. A total of 705 of the 850 fire alerts last year did not require firefighters to extinguish the blaze with a fire hose after arriving at the scene, accounting for 82.94 percent of the total, Wong said.
Wong pointed out that the main causes of fire alarms were unattended cooking stoves, careless disposal of ignition sources, burning of incense, candles and joss paper, mechanical or equipment failure, and short circuits, adding that these causes combined accounted for 534 cases, accounting for 62.82 percent of all fire alarm responses. Among the fire-alert responses, incidents requiring hose deployment for firefighting totalled 145, a decrease of 18.54 percent compared to the 178 cases in 2024, Wong said.
Daily average of 124 ambulance deployment last year
The total number of ambulance deployments in 2025 was 45,370, according to Wong, an increase of 134 compared to 2024, representing a slight rise of only 0.3 percent. The daily average of ambulance deployments stood at 124 last year, or about five every hour.
Wong pointed out that ambulance cases were primarily for incidents involving dizziness, abdominal pain, fever, and contusions.
Wong noted that around 1,200 of these cases were assessed by the hospital as non-emergencies. He urged the public to use ambulance resources appropriately.
During the media Q&A session, journalists raised a series of questions.
In response to fire safety hazards in older buildings, Wong said that over 11,000 fire prevention inspections were conducted last year, primarily focusing on the unobstructed condition of fire escape routes and the maintenance of fire protection systems. Regarding obstructions in passageways, more than 2,400 cases were identified. Following warnings, nearly 90 percent of these cases were rectified, with a total of 126 cases resulting in penalties, Wong said.
As buildings increase in height and electric vehicles become more widespread, rescue operations are becoming increasingly complex. Wong said that personnel will be sent to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong for exchange and training in the future, with a focus on strategies for responding to high-rise building fires.
Wong also said that new equipment such as 18-metre and 20-metre aerial ladder trucks have already been introduced for deployment to the city’s old quarters, and the continuous acquisition of gear like fire blankets* and robots are planned to address emerging risks such as lithium battery fires in electric vehicles.
*A fire blanket is a safety device used to extinguish small fires, particularly those involving flammable liquids or grease. It consists of a large piece of fire-resistant material, typically made from fibreglass or other flame-retardant fabrics, which can be draped over a fire to smother it. - Poe
Flanked by other senior officers, Wong Kin, commissioner of Fire Services Bureau (CB), addresses Friday’s press conference at the bureau’s headquarters next to Sai Van Lake. – Photos: Armindo Neves
This photo taken on Friday shows fire engines and an ambulance parked at the Sai Van Lake fire station, which is also the Fire Services Bureau’s (CB) headquarters.
