LCQ19: Hill fires in country parks

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Following is a question by the Hon. Lau Kong-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment and Food, Mrs Lily Yam, in the Legislative Council meeting today (March 6):

Question

Regarding hill fires in country parks in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the respective numbers of hill fires in country parks each month in the past five years, as well as the five country parks with the most frequent hill fires;

(b) of the total area of vegetation in country parks destroyed by hill fires in the past five years, as well as the amount and cost of replanted vegetation; and

(c) of the time normally taken by the Fire Services Department or the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to arrive at the scene after receiving a hill fire report, and the criteria adopted for deciding whether a helicopter should be dispatched to assist in putting out the fire?

Reply

1. The number of hill fires in country parks in the past five years are as follows:

Year Month	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Jan	16	6	21	11	2
Feb	5	2	47	14	14
Mar	6	2	3	11	12
Apr	1	27	55	2	3
May	0	0	0	0	0
Jun	0	0	0	0	0
Jul	0	0	0	0	0
Aug	0	0	0	0	0
Sept	0	0	1	8	1
Oct	4	27	32	14	32
Nov	7	17	16	3	27
Dec	5	10	18	2	15
Total	44	91	193	65	106

During this period, the five country parks with the highest number of hill fires are Tai Lam Country Park, Pat Sin Leng Country Park, Tai Mo Shan Country Park, Plover Cove Country Park and Sai Kung West Country Park.

2. According to the information of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), the total area of land within country parks affected by hill fires (mostly grassland) in the past five years and the number of trees destroyed are as follows:

Year Area affected / No. of trees destroyed	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Estimated area of land damaged by hill fires in country parks (hectare)	307	522	1,680	297	395
Estimated number of trees destroyed	3,355	48,750	73,710	4,370	20,615

AFCD has not specifically collected information on the number of trees replanted in place of the ones destroyed by hill fires. However, the department carries out tree-planting programme in country parks every year. In this regard, the number of trees planted over the past five years and the approximate cost incurred are as follows:

Year No. of trees planted/ Cost involved	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Approximate number of trees planted	334,200	493,000	660,000	648,000	950,000
Approximate cost ($million)	6.0	8.2	11.5	10.8	14.5

3. Generally speaking, hill fires within country parks are mainly dealt with by AFCD. Normally, it will take the department about 15 to 45 minutes to arrive at the scene from receiving a hill fire report. The time required is mainly affected by a number of factors, including the location of the fire incident (e.g. its distance from vehicular access and whether the site is accessible from a footpath), topographical conditions, and the location of the duty fire-fighting team.

Upon arrival at the scene, AFCD's fire-fighting team will immediately assess the intensity of the fire. If the team considers that the fire is very intense, shows signs of spreading rapidly, or is likely to affect residential areas, public utilities, or woodland, or pose a threat to public safety, they will request the Government Flying Service to send helicopters to assist in fighting the fire and seek the assistance of the Fire Services Department if necessary.

End/Wednesday, March 6, 2002

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