Hong Kong has issued 5,000 fire safety warnings after checking 700 old buildings following a deadly blaze in April. Photo: Jelly TseHong Kong authorities have issued more than 5,000 fire safety warnings after inspecting around 700 high-risk old buildings that were identified after a deadly blaze broke out in an ageing residential and commercial block in April.
The Fire Services Department has enhanced its enforcement actions by inspecting old-style composite buildings since May and had issued over 5,000 fire hazard abatement notices as of July, with 32 per cent of the warnings involving smoke doors not being properly closed.
“Most of the warnings are related to human factors including wedged open smoke doors and blocked escape routes, which can all be avoided,” Yung Kam-hung, deputy chief fire officer in building improvement, said on Thursday.
Broken smoke doors accounted for the second-highest number of notices, at 28 per cent.
“Everyone can help to improve the fire safety of buildings by keeping smoke doors closed,” Yung added.
The blaze in the 60-year-old New Lucky House in Yau Ma Tei, a densely populated area, killed five people and injured 43 others in April.
Hong Kong building with fatal blaze did not adhere to fire safety norms
The accident turned the focus onto the long-standing problem of buildings not complying with fire safety directions, leading the government to step up enforcement.
Yung said officers had inspected 700 out of 1,000 targeted buildings as of the end of July. He said he expected the investigation would be done by the end of the year.
Around 25 per cent of the buildings were located in Yau Tsim Mong district, another 12 per cent were in Eastern district while Sham Shui Po had 11 per cent, he added.
“Up until now, it has been observed that the problem of ‘three-nil’ buildings not complying with fire safety directions is not particularly serious,” he said, adding that authorities hoped to evaluate the inspection by the first quarter of next year.
Three-nil buildings refer to those that do not have an owners’ corporation or any form of residents’ organisation, and do not employ a property management company.
Meanwhile, in the first six months this year the department prosecuted more than 1,000 cases for not complying with fire safety directions. The warnings give owners directions on improving fire safety standards in their buildings.
The number of prosecuted cases this year so far is three times more than the total in 2023.
Yung added that the department would give relevant stakeholders time to follow up on the warnings if needed.
“If the relevant owners are trying to fix the problems which require time to follow up, we will extend the deadline for them to carry out the work,” he said.