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The following is issued on behalf of Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA):
The Housing Authority would continue to step up efforts in raising the awareness of its residential tenants towards fire safety and to upgrade the fire services installations in public housing estates for effective fire prevention.
Speaking today (December 2) at the launching ceremony of the Estate Fire Safety Campaign 2007/2008, Mr Lee Cert-quinn, Assistant Director of Housing (Estate Management 1) said, ˇ§the HA is committed to enhancing the reliability of the fire services installations to ensure a high fire safety standard in housing estates.ˇ¨
ˇ§We pay great attention to the regular checking and maintenance of the fire services installations to keep them in good conditions,ˇ¨ said Mr Lee.
He added that, ˇ§tenants are also encouraged to take proper care of these installations and learn to use them correctly. Abuse of or damage to these installations, which may cause false alarms, will not be allowed.ˇ¨
Mr Lee noted that prolonged period of high humidity and unstable weather could affect the conditions of fire services installations, leading to false alarms. The HA had therefore re-located some of its fire alarm modules from humid locations or replaced them with waterproof models. Smoke detectors were cleaned more frequently to reduce accumulation of dust and moisture. As a result, false alarm incidents had dropped sharply from an average of four cases per quarter per estate in 2005 to 2.5 cases in the second quarter this year.
Statistics showed that negligence attributed to the majority of the 1,500 fires in public housing estates in 2006. Cooking fires resulting from over-heating was the biggest single cause, totalling more than 960 cases, followed by improper handling of cigarette ends, matches or candles which accounted for over 140 cases, and fires involving electrical appliances and wires accounted for over 70 cases.
Earlier this year the HA commissioned an independent research consultant to conduct a telephone survey to assess the fire safety awareness of public housing tenants, evaluate the effectiveness of the HAˇ¦s fire safety education and measure tenantsˇ¦ satisfaction towards the fire safety environment in public housing.
The result showed that nearly 100% of the respondents claimed that they would choose to use the stairway instead of the lift for emergency escape in case of fire; 98% were familiar with the location of the emergency exits; 94% knew that smoke doors should be kept closed at all times while 70% considered the most effective way to notify neighbours when there was a fire was to activate the fire alarm. With regard to the overall satisfaction towards the existing fire services installations in the estate, over 80% of the respondents were either very satisfied or satisfied.
The HA would continue its efforts to promote fire safety through publicity materials, educational programmes and the media, aiming to help tenants master basic fire safety knowledge and proper use of fire services installations. Fire drills would also be conducted on a regular basis to familiarise tenants with escape routes and emergency measures.
Todayˇ¦s ceremony kicked off the Campaign and the Estate Fire Safety Fun Filled Show, a joint project between the HA and Metro Showbiz, to be roved in different estates. The latest fire prevention information is available in the Housing Authority / Housing Department website.
Ends/Sunday, December 2, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:53
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