bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Ernest Kao

Clifford Lo

Phila Siu

Fire officials will investigate whether mistakes were made in fighting a fourth- alarm fire at the Amoycan Industrial Centre in Ngau Tau Kok.
The operation lasted two days and involved 200 firefighters, claiming the life of a senior officer.
Questions were raised as to whether officers used the correct firefighting strategy after it was revealed that the deceased fireman was sent with another colleague deep into the burning mini-storage warehouse on Tuesday.
Ngau Tau Kok residents and retailers shower praise on firefighters battling Hong Kong blaze
Senior station officer Thomas Cheung, one of the men who went in, went missing in the building and was later found unconscious. He died in hospital a few hours later.
It is understood that Cheung and his colleague, equipped with breathing equipment, went in shortly after 7pm to fight the blaze with water jets. This also required breaking open locked mini- storage cubicles. Other teams were also present, contrary to previous reports.
Describing the narrow passageways inside as “a maze”, a source with knowledge of the firefighting operation said the entire third floor was filled with dense smoke and there was intense heat.
“Firemen were unable to see the situation in front and behind them. They had to use their hands to search and move inch by inch,” the source said.
Because of severe heat and dense smoke, the department changed tactics around 9pm on Tuesday night. All firemen were ordered to withdraw and water was sprayed from outside and more water jets were used, the source said.

Asked whether tactical mistakes had been made, Li Leung-ming, the Fire Services Department’s assistant commissioner for Kowloon, said risk assessments were carried out regularly in the field and different tactics were used. “We will investigate this,” he added.
It is understood the department will set up a task force to investigate all issues including the cause of the fire, the death of the fireman and firefighting tactics.
Fire Services Officers Association executive committee member Mak Kam-fai defended the decision to send in colleagues, saying risk assessments must have been carried out beforehand.
“I am sure they must have felt that the situation at the time allowed them to get in before they did so,” he said.
Donations and tributes pour in for Hong Kong firefighter who died in Ngau Tau Kok blaze
Mak also dismissed suggestions­ spreading among officers that the use of a positive pressure fan had intensified the blaze. He said the fan played an important role in dispersing the heat inside the building.
Professor Cheung Kwok-pun, a fire safety expert from the University of Hong Kong’s architecture department, said fighting a fire in a densely packed storage area was more dangerous due to the numerous divided units and unknown materials stored inside.
“This should not have been a traditional firefighting operation,” said Cheung. “They had no idea what was burning inside. It could have been chemicals and oils from objects such as compact discs and perfumes, burning items that would have caused sudden increases in temperature.”
He said the best method from the start would have been to continue hosing down the blaze, lowering its temperature and letting it burn out.


Why are Hong Kong’s firefighters so celebrated? From hellish infernos to rescue missions, city’s bravest go where they are needed

Hong Kong mini-storage provider RedBox fireproofs its facilities to comply with stringent regulations

Mixing art and dining, Hong Kong restaurant owners hope to rise from ashes of Ngau Tau Kok fire

Small businesses and arts groups flee from high rents ... only to end up in potential death traps in Hong Kong

Ngau Tau Kok fire

Hong Kong fire officials to probe whether mistakes made in battling deadly fire

Firefighters take a rest from the exhausting battle against the blaze. Photo: Felix Wong

Fourth-alarm blaze in Ngau Tau Kok industrial building continue. 22JUN16 SCMP/ Felix Wong

News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Firefighters ordered into burning building at height of Ngau Tau Kok blaze; one later died
