A No.3 Alarm fire at New Lucky House killed five and injured 40. A number of those who have been hospitalised are still in critical condition. New Lucky House is packed with guesthouses and subdivided units. Talking about the rescue work yesterday (11 April), Lam Kin Kwan, the FSD’s Kowloon South divisional commander, said there are three noteworthy points. First, he mentioned that the building had different subdivided units, and the internal structure had been modified, making the rescue more difficult. This means it is highly likely that illegal modifications were made inside the building.
Second, Lam said that there were three staircases in the building, one of which was almost smoke-free during the fire. Over a hundred residents evacuated via it. However, the staircase close to the main entrance were affected by heavy smoke. It was found that some smoke-proof doors on the staircase were damaged, which is believed to be one of the reasons for the dense smoke in the stairwell. In this fire, a man died in the stairwell between the seventh and eighth floors, which is far away from where the fire had started (the first floor). Had the smoke doors of the building functioned normally, the casualties should have been reduced.
Third, Lam said that during the rescue process, it was found that the building’s fire protection equipment did not appear to have valid annual inspection records, adding that the FSD would take further law enforcement actions if necessary. This observation matches residents’ complaints about expired fire extinguishers and damaged fire hose reels in the building. This is puzzling, since officers from the FSD had found “no problems” during the most recent inspection on 9 February this year.
The Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance, which was implemented in 2007, stipulates that old buildings built before 1987 must be upgraded to “a level in line with the current fire safety standards”. This involves the installation of equipment such as automatic sprinkler systems and fire hose reels. The FSD and the BD conduct inspections, take law enforcement actions and help building owners comply with the requirements of the ordinance. There are about 14,000 target buildings regulated by the ordinance, and New Lucky House is certainly one of them. According to government figures, as of the end of October last year, the FSD and the BD had completed the inspections of about 11,000 target buildings and issued a total of about 350,000 “Fire Safety Directions”. However, about 60% of these Directions have yet to be actioned or followed up. New Lucky House, unfortunately, is one of such buildings.
According to the BD, as early as 2008 — the year after the Ordinance came into effect — the department issued Fire Safety Directions to the building’s Owners’ Corporation, requiring New Lucky House to improve fire protection. But the building has not complied as of today.
With thousands of old buildings in Hong Kong, the government must have a set of objective and clear criteria for fire protection improvement works carried out for flat owners (the so-called default works). Not only should the authorities be considerate to old, cash-strapped owners, but they should come up with ways to deal with owners who refuse to foot the bill after the work is completed so as to ensure that the mechanism for default works will not be abused.
Ming Pao Editorial 2024.04.12: The government shall formulate priorities for fire protection projects and legislate them as soon as possible.
The fire at Wah Fung Building on Jordan Road once again exposed the fire safety and management problems in old buildings. Whether the Fire Services Department’s inspection work is in place is certainly a cause for concern. The fire safety instructions issued by the Buildings Department have not been complied with for more than 10 years, and even more It’s unacceptable.
A three-level fire in Huafeng Building killed 5 and injured 40, and many of the injured are still in critical condition in the hospital. There are many hotels and subdivided houses in Wah Fung Building. Fire Services Department Kowloon South Division Commander Lin Jianjun talked about the rescue work yesterday and there were three points worthy of attention. First of all, he mentioned that the building has units with different partitions, and the internal structure has been modified, making the rescue more difficult. This means that there are likely to be illegal changes inside the building.
Secondly, Lin said that there were three stairs in the building. One of them was almost smoke-free during the fire. Over a hundred residents were evacuated through it. However, the stairs close to the main entrance were affected by the smoke. They found that part of the smoke-proof door on the stairs was damaged. I believe this is one of the reasons for the thick smoke in the stairwell. In this fire, some people died in stairwells 7 to 8, which are far away from the fire location on the first floor. If the smoke doors of the building function normally, the casualties should be reduced.
Third, Lin said that during the rescue process, it was discovered that the building’s fire protection equipment did not appear to have effective annual inspections, and further law enforcement actions would be taken if necessary. This statement coincides with residents’ complaints about expired fire extinguishers and damaged fire hose reels in the building. It also makes people puzzled over the fact that “no problems were found” during the most recent inspection by Fire Services Department personnel on February 9 this year.
The Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance was implemented in 2007, stipulating that old buildings built before 1987 must be upgraded to “fire protection that meets modern requirements”, including the installation of automatic sprinkler systems, fire hose reels, etc. The Buildings Department of the Fire Services Department will Inspect and enforce laws and assist building owners in complying with ordinance requirements. There are about 14,000 target buildings regulated by the ordinance, and Wah Fung Building is certainly one of them. According to government figures, as of the end of October last year, the Fire Services Department and the Buildings Department had completed inspections of about 11,000 target buildings and issued a total of about 350,000 “fire safety instructions”. However, about 60% of these “instructions” still need to be followed. Or follow up, unfortunately Huafeng Building is also one of them.
According to the Buildings Department, as early as 2008, the year after the Ordinance came into effect, the Department had issued fire safety instructions to the Corporation, requiring Wah Fung Building to improve fire protection, but the building has not yet complied.
There are thousands of old buildings in Hong Kong, and the government must have a set of objective and clear criteria for fire protection improvement projects. The authorities should not only be considerate to the old owners who are financially strapped, but also have ways to deal with owners who refuse to collect money afterwards and want to “walk away” to ensure that the agency project mechanism will not be abused.
■/ Glossary new words /
lay bare : to make something known
action : to make sure that something is done or dealt with
