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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Dr Hon Leung Mei-fun in the Legislative Council today (April 14):
Question:
The fire which occurred on March 8 this year at an industrial building at Castle Peak Road in Cheung Sha Wan caused a tragedy in which one senior fireman died on duty and three firemen were injured. It was reported that the industrial building at which the fire occurred was constructed in 1961, and had no automatic sprinkler system installed. Although the existing legislation does not require that industrial buildings which were constructed in or before the 1960s must be installed with automatic sprinkler systems, this fire has revealed the potential problems of fire safety of certain old industrial buildings in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers, broken down by District Council district, of industrial buildings, godowns and warehouses in Hong Kong which do not have automatic sprinkler systems installed at present;
(b) whether the authorities will explore the feasibility of making it a mandatory requirement for all old industrial buildings, which were constructed in or before the 1960s in Hong Kong, to be installed with automatic sprinkler systems; if they will not, of the reasons for that;
(c) whether the authorities will review the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap.572) and expand its relevant scope of application to cover composite buildings which were constructed on or before March 1, 1987, and of which the part for non-domestic purposes consists of "a factory or industrial undertaking, godown, warehouse or place of bulk storage";
(d) focusing on the situation where old industrial buildings which were constructed in or before the 1960s are not required to be installed with automatic sprinkler systems, what special measures the authorities have at present to plug the loophole in fire safety; whether the authorities will implement more new measures to enhance the fire safety of old industrial buildings after the aforesaid fatal fire; and
(e) given that it was reported that three fatal fires had occurred one after another since 2007, causing tragedies in which a total of four firemen died on duty during fire-fighting operations, and all such fires had occurred at old commercial/residential or industrial buildings, whether the Fire Services Department will review if there are loopholes in its current strategy on fire-fighting in such buildings?
Reply :
President,
(a) Industrial buildings, warehouses or depots completed before 1973 are not required to install automatic sprinkler systems. These buildings, around 481 in total, according to the records held by the Buildings Department, are distributed as follows (broken down by the districts of District Councils):
District Number of District Number of
factory factory
buildings buildings
-------- ----------- -------- -----------
Central and 7 Kowloon City 37
Western
Eastern 27 Sai Kung 4
Southern 20 Kwai Tsing 58
Wan Chai 1 Tsuen Wan 52
Islands 4 Sha Tin 3
Sham Shui Po 52 Tai Po 0
Kwun Tong 122 Tuen Mun 1
Wong Tai Sin 46 Yuen Long 5
Yau Tsim Mong 42 North District 0
Some of the above buildings may have already installed automatic sprinkler systems on their own initiative. The Fire Services Department (FSD) is now conducting a survey on all industrial buildings (please refer to items (c) and (d) below for details). More details of these buildings will be available after this survey.
(b) According to FSD's experience in the implementation of the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance, it is technically feasible to install automatic sprinkler systems in old factory buildings. If it is confirmed by an authorised person that standard water tanks for automatic sprinkler systems cannot be installed at the rooftop of the old factory buildings due to structural reasons, the enforcement authority would follow established practice and adopt a flexible and pragmatic approach in handling such cases, for example, allowing owners to use improvised automatic sprinkler systems or install the water tanks of the automatic sprinkler systems in atriums or podiums.
FSD will study whether new measures, including compulsory installation of automatic sprinkler systems, should be introduced to enhance the fire safety of old industrial buildings after its current survey.
(c) and (d) After the No. 4 alarm fire at Lai Cheong Factory Building, FSD has commenced a survey on all industrial buildings in the territory since March 22 to assess the fire safety of such buildings. The scope of inspection includes building fire service installations (FSIs), building fire safety management, potential fire risks, unauthorised building works and change of use, etc.
If any irregularity is detected during the survey, FSD will take appropriate action including prosecution, issuance of fire hazard abatement notices, and referral of cases to departments concerned for follow-up actions.
The aforementioned survey is expected to be completed within two to three months. FSD will analyse the survey result and study whether it is necessary to introduce new measures for enhancing the fire safety of old industrial buildings.
(e) The operational guidelines drawn up by the FSD have already set out detailed operational strategies for fire fighting in various types of buildings. The department would constantly review the relevant strategies and, where necessary, revise these guidelines having regard to lessons learnt from daily operation. In addition, FSD will strengthen the training for frontline fire fighting personnel to enhance their safety and improve overall operational efficiency.
Ends/Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Issued at HKT 15:26
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