LCQ1: Enhancing fire safety education and promotion approach
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Question:
There are views that the Government may further enhance existing fire safety education, deepen the concept of "making preventive efforts to ensure fire safety", and introduce virtual reality (VR) technology to assist members of the public in staying calm and making appropriate escape decisions and to enhance their self-protection ability in case of fire. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the numbers of fire safety talks, seminars, exhibitions and fire drills organised by the Hong Kong Fire Services Department (FSD) for community members and the total number of times fire safety advisory service was provided in the past three years;
(2) whether the FSD will consider further enhancing the fire safety education and promotion approach to step up the fire risk assessment and escape decision-making capabilities of the public, such as encouraging or requiring building management bodies (including owners' corporations and property management companies) to participate in and organise practical training, regularly conducting evacuation simulation drills and on-site demonstration of fire suppression methods, and teaching residents how to make appropriate judgement and choose escape routes in case of fire based on the fire location, building structure and their own physical conditions, while at the same time stepping up the overall co-ordination and response capabilities of building households and property management personnel in case of fire; and
(3) whether the FSD will consider, in collaboration with the Education Bureau, designing and promoting activities that create an immersive sense of presence by re-creating fire scenarios with VR technology and require regular participation by schools, so as to heighten students' crisis awareness through situated education and provide them with specialised training for fire escape?
Reply:
President,
The Government attaches great importance to public fire safety education. In emergencies such as fires, whether members of the public can remain calm, make effective risk assessments and escape decision directly affects their safety. To this end, the Fire Services Department (FSD), apart from actively implementing a "community-based" public safety strategy, has also widely applied innovative technologies to enhance the interactivity and realism of education and training. The objective is to enable the public to acquire and practise emergency response skills in simulated yet safe situations, thereby strengthening the overall fire prevention awareness and self-rescue capabilities.
The reply to the question raised by the Member, in consultation with the Education Bureau (EDB), is as follows:
(1) The total number of fire safety talks and advisory services provided by the FSD to the community in the past three years is shown in the table below.
| Year | Number of fire safety talks and advisory services |
| 2023 | 133 295 |
| 2024 | 141 565 |
| 2025 | 147 487 |
In addition, the FSD from time to time organises disaster prevention and emergency preparedness exhibitions, fire premises open days as well as district disaster and emergency preparedness carnivals. It also conducts fire drills with residential estates and schools, among others, to continuously strengthen community fire safety promotion.
(2) The FSD has been educating and cultivating public awareness of disaster risks through conventional mass media, digital and social platforms, community outreach, and collaboration with different organisations. At the same time, the FSD has actively strengthened district-level co-operation and encouraged direct public participation in training. It has also integrated innovative technologies into public education to further enhance the public's capability to respond effectively in the event of a fire.
Strengthening district collaboration
To enhance district collaboration, the FSD established the "Fire Services Department Community Collaboration Network" (FSDCCN) in 2022. Members of the FSDCCN include Divisional Commanders of the FSD and chairpersons of the 18 District Fire Safety Committees under the Home Affairs Department. FSDCCN members hold regular meetings to jointly formulate targeted district fire safety strategies and organise district fire and disaster prevention publicity campaigns. For example, in 2025, over 3 000 sets of "three treasures for fire protection" (fire extinguishers, fire blankets, and stand-alone fire detectors) were distributed to the public through the FSDCCN. Information on fire prevention and emergency preparedness was also provided to residents to enhance their emergency readiness. It is expected that in 2026, 5 400 sets of "disaster and emergency preparedness kits," with the addition of smoke hoods, will be distributed across all districts in Hong Kong through the FSDCCN to continue to strengthen district collaboration efforts.
Encouraging direct participation of the public in fire safety training
Since December 2024, the FSD has launched the "Community Emergency Responder Scheme" to provide members of the public with knowledge on basic fire prevention and emergency response. As of December 31, 2025, a total of 8 420 members of the public have become "Community Emergency Responders" upon completion of the training course. In 2026, the annual recruitment target for "Community Emergency Responders" will be increased to 10 000 members, with a view to expanding the community safety network.
To ensure that residents and managerial personnel in buildings are equipped with knowledge on fire prevention and emergency response, and are able to respond correctly and immediately during the incipient stage of fires, the FSD has specifically established the "Building Emergency Responders" which provides specialised training for property management personnel, representatives of owners' corporations (OCs) and residents on building fire safety, such as the correct usage, management, and maintenance responsibilities of fire service installations and equipment, as well as key considerations when conducting fire inspections, etc. These "Building Emergency Responders" can assist in identifying potential fire safety hazards within housing estates, participate in fire safety inspections, and report risks to the FSD or property management companies.
In December 2025, the FSD provided relevant training to about 100 property management personnel working in public housing estates. The FSD, in collaboration with the Property Management Services Authority, will deliver training to approximately 15 000 licensed property management personnel in 2026, and is also planning to regularise such training. In addition to licensed property management personnel, the FSD will also provide relevant training to about 2 000 security guards, members of OCs, owners and residents annually. In the long run, the FSD is actively exploring the incorporation of the course contents of the "Building Emergency Responders" into the programme of the Certificate in Basic Guarding Services (Qualifications Framework Level 1).
In addition, the FSD further encourages OCs and property management companies to arrange more fire alarm tests, aiming for at least one alarm test every six months and one fire drill per year, and organise talks on disaster and emergency preparedness in collaboration with the FSD prior to such drills.
Integrating innovative technologies into public education
The FSD has all along been actively leveraging innovative technologies for public education and publicity. As early as 2020, the FSD introduced an "Emergency Preparedness Education Bus", which features a virtual reality game and an interactive firefighting simulation system. This allows participants to experience escaping from a fire scene, operating fire extinguishers, and using hose reels to put out a fire, etc, thereby learning the skills of "Extinguish and Prevent Fire", "Self-help and Help Others" and "Escape and Evacuate" under the "Three Basic Skills on Emergency Preparedness", and enhancing the participants' self-help capabilities.
The FSD will also incorporate virtual reality elements into community training programmes this year, utilising immersive three-dimensional virtual scenarios to enable participants to experience disaster or incident scenes at site. Through multi-sensory simulation involving visual and audio elements, it will enable the participants to learn the correct emergency response and self-help methods, and master emergency skills in a safe environment, thereby strengthening public fire safety awareness and responsiveness during fire incidents.
To further enhance community safety education, the FSD is planning to set up two Disaster Prevention Experience Centres in Wan Chai and Tseung Kwan O. The centres will feature physical training facilities and high-tech experiential equipment that simulate various scenarios, focusing on themes such as community life support, fire safety, counter-terrorism preparedness and disaster preparedness, with an aim to equip the public with comprehensive knowledge of emergency preparedness and enhance their capabilities to respond to emergencies.
(3) The FSD has always been committed to implementing educational and promotional work through different channels to raise the fire safety awareness and emergency preparedness of students. Since 2006, the FSD has participated in the "Enhanced Smart Teen Project" rolled out by the EDB, organising a series of training courses focusing on aspects such as discipline, leadership and fire prevention for secondary school students. In addition to enhancing students' self-confidence, team spirit and leadership, the programme also fosters fire safety awareness and instils proper emergency response in them.
Subsequently, the FSD established the Community Training Unit to implement the "Community Training - School-based Education Programme" in 2022. Targeting students from secondary schools, primary schools and kindergartens across the territory, the programme aims to strengthen their understanding of emergency situations in the community and teach them methods to handle such situations and skills to select appropriate escape routes through a series of courses and activities.
Looking ahead, the FSD will continue to work closely with the EDB to proactively explore the integration of innovative technological elements such as virtual reality into school-based fire prevention education. For example, arranging school visits by the "Emergency Preparedness Education Bus" installed with a virtual reality interactive game and an interactive fire suppression simulation system that engages students in learning evacuation and self-help methods, encouraging students to participate in the "Community Emergency Responder Scheme", and arranging for students to visit the soon-to-be-commissioned Disaster Prevention Experience Centres, etc. By means of technologies such as virtual reality, students will be able to learn how to respond to fires in highly simulated scenarios, thereby deepening their crisis awareness and strengthening their self-protection and decision-making capabilities.
On the other hand, the EDB is also committed to enhancing teachers' and students' crisis awareness in the event of a fire. Schools are reminded to properly conduct risk management to mitigate the risk of fire and safeguard students' well-being. The EDB has issued guidelines and letters to schools, reminding them to comply with the stipulations in the Education Regulations and other relevant legislation, and to properly implement fire precautions and conduct fire drills. Having regard to school-based circumstances, schools should duly conduct risk management and formulate emergency response plans, and continuously monitor and update them in a timely manner. Teachers and students should also remain vigilant for fire risks and strengthen preventive measures. Every school shall draw up a practical scheme for the evacuation of the school premises in case of fire, and shall ensure that fire drill including the use of all exits from the school premises is carried out by the teachers and students at least once in every six months (including the boarding section of the school). They shall also keep a written record of all such drills in a school log book, including the time taken to evacuate the school premises during each fire drill, in order to enhance the crisis awareness, response and execution capability of school staff and students in the event of a fire through regular drills.
In addition, learning content related to fire safety has been included in the school curriculum. For example, Primary Humanities helps students learn about fire safety facilities, equipment and escape routes in schools, as well as know the ways of escape. In science subjects at primary and secondary levels, students learn about the knowledge related to burning and the working principles of fire-fighting tools (e.g. fire blankets). In junior secondary Science curriculum, students also learn about safety equipment in school laboratories, including the proper use of fire-fighting equipment (e.g. fire extinguishers and sand buckets), as well as the proper ways and contingency measures for handling laboratory accidents (e.g. fires and chemical spills).
The Government will continue to strengthen the community's fire safety network through a wide variety of education and publicity activities, and actively apply innovative technologies to raise public awareness on disaster and emergency preparedness, so as to safeguard life and property of the public.
Ends/Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Issued at HKT 12:58
Issued at HKT 12:58
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