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Peace Chiu

A city-wide fire safety inspection prompted by the killer blaze at an industrial building in Ngau Tau Kok last month has found many mini-storage facilities flouting safety rules.
The Fire Services Department reported progress in the safety drive after another blaze broke out on Thursday night in an industrial building housing mini-storage units, sending three people to hospital. Two were siblings living in a cubicle.
There were at least two storage facilities breaching fire safety regulations in the building.
Hong Kong officials kick off inspection of mini-storage facilities in wake of deadly fire
Deputy chief fire officer Terrance Tsang Wing-hung said the department had checked around 90 mini-storage facilities so far in the wake of last month’s blaze that killed two firemen.
The department had uncovered “not a small number” of violations, he said, without providing the actual figures.
The Ngau Tau Kok fire burned for more than 108 hours, becoming one of the longest in the city’s history.
Firefighters were hampered by 200 locked storage cubicles, which had to be individually broken into so they could get to all the floors. They had no idea what was stored in the cubicles, some of which were later found to contain inflammable and possibly toxic materials.
The government had previously said it was targeting nearly 500 mini-storage outlets for ­inspection within two months.
Self-storage deals at a standstill in wake of Ngau Tau Kok blaze
Tsang said: "We encountered irregularities including insufficient passageways, insufficient hose reel coverage and ­obstruction to fire service installations arising from the configuration of mini-storage facilities."
Government departments would take immediate action where rules were broken, he said.
Michael Pang Yuk-lung, chief building surveyor for fire safety at the Buildings Department, said his colleagues had also inspected around 40 mini-storage facilities and found violations such as passageways for evacuation being too long or too narrow. The configuration of cubicles was also found to be blocking fire service installations.
Tsang said the fire, buildings, lands and labour departments had met representatives from the mini-storage trade, including ­operators and the Self Storage ­Association Asia.
Hong Kong government to probe reports that people were living illegally in industrial building hit by fire
During the talks, officials told the trade representatives to take administrative fire safety measures, such as increasing the number of management and security staff, regulating what their tenants stored and banning dangerous goods.
The representatives said they would have a “proactive attitude” and cooperate to improve the safety of mini-storage operations, Tsang noted.
He said in the long run, the government would consider amending existing legislation or introducing new regulations to improve fire safety standards in old industrial buildings and enhance the safe operation of mini-storage facilities.
Architectural, surveying, and planning lawmaker Tony Tse Wai-chuen urged the government to extend the inspection of mini-storage facilities to all old ­industrial buildings. “The current approach only solves problems when they surface. That should not be the case,” Tse said.
The fire on Thursday night started in a storage unit with wooden planks subdividing cubicles, but the Fire Services Department said it was not a mini-storage facility.
Surveyor Vincent Ho Kui-yip said rectifying the shortage of hose reels should not be an issue, but he noted that widening passageways would require a change in layout, which would affect the storage space for storage operators and in turn their income.


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Ngau Tau Kok fire

Hong Kong government unearths safety violations in storage unit inspections after killer Ngau Tau Kok fire

The Ngau Tau Kok blaze broke out in an area containing numerous mini-storage facilities. Photo: Felix Wong

Hong Kong government to probe reports that people were living illegally in industrial building hit by fire

The aftermath of a fire in an industrial building in Cheung Sha Wan. Photo: Felix Wong

Hong Kong officials kick off inspection of mini-storage facilities in wake of deadly fire

Officers check fire protection systems at a mini-storage facility in Tai Kok Tsui. Photo: Felix Wong

Fourth-alarm blaze in the Ngau Tau Kok industrial building, Amoy Industrial Centre, continues. 24JUN16 SCMP/ Dickson Lee

Self-storage deals at a standstill in wake of Ngau Tau Kok blaze

The flames take hold at Amoycan Industrial Centre on Ngau Tau Kok Road on June 21. Two firefighters died in the blaze, and more than 200 mini-storage cubicles were destroyed. Photo: Felix Wong, SCMP

Firemen enter the Ngau Tau Kok industrial building, Amoycan Industrial Centre. 27JUN16 SCMP/K. Y. Cheng

Hong Kong government unearths safety violations in storage unit inspections after killer Ngau Tau Kok fire

Fire in industrial storage facility killed two firemen last month