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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kenneth Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, in the Legislative Council today (May 4):
Question:
On the 19th of last month, a No. 3 alarm fire broke out in a building at Hennessy Road in Wan Chai. It has been reported that when the firemen tried to get water from the fire service installations of the building concerned for fighting the fire, they found that the water pressure was unstable. They therefore had to connect the fire hoses to the fire hydrants on the street (commonly known as "street hydrants") to get water, and then pump water via the pumping appliances to fight the fire. Moreover, as eight fire hoses ruptured during the firefighting operation and the water jetted out from aerial ladders to the unit on fire was weak at the beginning, it took the firemen more than one hour to put out the fire. On the other hand, it is learnt that a registered contractor has carried out maintenance works for the fire service installations of the building concerned, but the fire service installations concerned have all along failed to fully comply with the relevant requirements. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details concerning the manpower, vehicles and equipment deployed by the Fire Services Department (FSD) to handle the aforesaid fire;
(2) whether, during the aforesaid firefighting process, FSD sought assistance from the Water Supplies Department (WSD) for raising the water pressure of street hydrants in the vicinity to facilitate firefighting; if FSD did, of the details of the assistance rendered by WSD, and whether it is a usual practice of WSD to render such assistance; if it is a usual practice, of the established procedure involved;
(3) given that there are quite a number of old buildings in Wan Chai and the fire service installations in those buildings do not meet the latest requirements, resulting in FSD having to resort to street hydrants to get water for firefighting, whether FSD and WSD have conducted joint inspections on a regular basis to see if the water pressure of street hydrants within the district is up to the standard; if they have, of the details of the inspections; if not, the reasons for that;
(4) whether FSD has followed up on the failure of the fire service installations of the building concerned to comply with the relevant requirements; if FSD has, of the latest progress of the follow-up work; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5) whether FSD will investigate thoroughly into and follow up on the problems (e.g. unstable water pressure in respect of the fire service installations of the building concerned and ruptured fire hoses) which occurred during the aforesaid firefighting operation; if FSD will, of the specific plans; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the five parts of the question, in consultation with relevant bureaux and departments, is as follows:
(1) Upon receipt of a call reporting a building fire on Hennessy Road, Wan Chai at 12.47pm on April 19, 2016, the Fire Services Communications Centre (FSCC) immediately dispatched eight fire appliances and an ambulance to the scene. The first fire appliance arrived at 12.49pm (i.e. about two minutes from the time of call). In view of the fierce fire, the officer-in-charge at the scene upgraded the fire to No. 3 alarm at 1.03pm (i.e. about 14 minutes from the time of call) and requested additional manpower and vehicles for assistance to handle the incident. The fire was put out at 2.07pm.
FSD deployed a total of 100 fire and ambulance personnel, 16 fire appliances and six ambulances to tackle the fire. During the operation, FSD sent two breathing apparatus teams to break into the two units involved in the fire and subsequently quenched the fire inside the units with two fire hoses. On the street, two turntable ladders, positioned near the building with their ladders extended, directed water jets to form a water curtain to prevent the fire from spreading to other floors along the external wall of the building.
(2) Under the established mechanism, the FSCC will, at the outbreak of a No. 3 alarm fire, immediately inform the Water Supplies Department (WSD) to designate staff for an on-the-spot examination of the water supplies conditions of fire hydrants on the street (commonly known as "street hydrants") in the vicinity of the building concerned. Furthermore, FSD's officer-in-charge at the scene will contact WSD for assistance through the FSCC if an adjustment of street hydrants' water pressure is considered necessary in the course of firefighting and rescue operations. As far as this fire incident is concerned, upon upgrading to No. 3 alarm, the FSCC requested for WSD's on-scene staff assistance immediately, according to the aforesaid mechanism. On subsequent arrival at the scene of fire, WSD's officers confirmed that the department's water supply system and the water pressure of the street hydrants remained normal.
(3) Fire station staff in various districts (including Wan Chai District) conduct routine examination of street hydrants in their respective districts every half year. Upon repair or modification of any street hydrants, additional examination will also be carried out by the fire personnel, who will inform WSD for follow-up actions in case any street hydrants are identified with sub-standard water pressure or insufficient flow. Where necessary, FSD will formulate contingency plans. In addition, WSD has installed 24-hour water pressure loggers in major street hydrants in Wan Chai District for its officers to keep watch on the supply pressure in the district regularly to ensure the water pressure is within normal range.
(4) After the fire, FSD's officers examined the fire service installations and equipment of the building, and found that the improvement works for the fire hydrant and hose reel system of the building were still in progress. Meanwhile, FSD also found that the system was not in efficient working order.
Regarding the improvement works for the fire hydrant and hose reel system, according to Circular Letter No. 3/2008 issued by FSD to all Registered Fire Service Installation Contractors (RFSICs), if fire service installations and equipment need to be shut down for maintenance and repair, the RFSIC must notify FSD at least seven days before the commencement of works. However, FSD only received a notification from the RFSIC on the shutdown of the fire service installations of the building for works in the evening of the day this fire broke out.
On another front, according to the Fire Service (Installations and Equipment) Regulations (Cap. 95B), the owner of any fire service installation or equipment which is installed in any premises shall keep such fire service installation or equipment in efficient working order at all times, and have such fire service installation or equipment inspected by an RFSIC at least once in every 12 months. Whenever an RFSIC inspects a fire service installation or equipment, he shall within 14 days after completion of the inspection issue to the person on whose instructions the inspection was carried out a certificate (i.e. annual inspection certificate for fire service installations and equipment) and forward a copy thereof to FSD.
According to FSD's records, the latest certificate of annual fire service installations and equipment inspection for the building was issued by an RFSIC in March last year, which was to certify the compliance of those installations and equipment (including fire hydrant and hose reel system) with the required standards. The said certificate of annual inspection expired in March this year. Yet, as of April 19, the day this fire took place, FSD has not received any valid certificate of annual fire service installations and equipment inspection for the building.
FSD has been looking into the case and will contact the relevant parties, including the RFSIC concerned, for the information required. Moreover, FSD has sent a letter to remind all RFSICs of the procedures and notification mechanism regarding the shutdown of a building's fire service installations and equipment for works.
(5) FSD is now following up on and investigating into the state of maintenance of the fire service installations and equipment of the building involved in the incident, and will take appropriate action if any contravention of the Fire Service (Installations and Equipment) Regulations is identified.
FSD does not consider there was any mistake made during the firefighting operation in this fire. Regarding the firefighting equipment, all fire hoses procured by FSD are in compliance with British Standards BS6391:2009. Moreover, FSD has put in place established guidelines on fire hose inspections. Fire personnel are required to conduct tests on fire hoses upon receipt of new ones, after using them in a fire, after repair and at intervals of 12 months. Only tested fire hoses will be used in firefighting operations. A total of eight fire hoses were damaged in this fire. One of them was suspected to be damaged by fallen objects at the scene of fire while the rest were slightly damaged. The fire personnel at the scene had immediately replaced the damaged ones with other fire hoses to ensure that the firefighting operation would not be affected. FSD will continue to prepare adequate reserve equipment in each firefighting operation for any emergency which may arise.
Ends/Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Issued at HKT 16:28
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