LCQ9: Activating Emergency Alert System to enhance fire safety
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Question:
The Government has set up the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which is classified into two levels, namely the "Emergency Alert" and the "Extreme Emergency Alert", to enable various government bureaux or departments to send emergency alerts to all mobile service users in Hong Kong via mobile networks in emergency situations. Regarding the No. 5 alarm fire that broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po in November last year, the Government indicated in its reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on February 4, 2026, that as the fire was a district-level incident, EAS was not activated at the time so as not to disrupt the activities or work of members of the public. It is reported that EAS has completed its upgrades and can now issue district-specific or multi-district alerts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities will review the existing relevant guidelines and establish clear criteria for issuing district-specific alerts for fires based on the severity of incidents and their scope of impact (e.g. the alarm level of the fire involved in an incident and the number of people affected), so as to ensure that residents in the district concerned can be promptly notified to evacuate in the event of a fire that poses extremely high risks; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) according to the existing mechanism, under truly justified emergency situations, government bureaux or departments may, after obtaining the approval of the relevant Director of Bureau (and the Chief Secretary for Administration in the case of "Extreme Emergency Alert"), disseminate EAS messages to alert members of the public to take immediate responsive actions; given that fires can spread rapidly, whether the authorities will study delegating the power to activate district-specific "Emergency Alerts" to frontline interdepartmental commanders, such as incident commanders of the Fire Services Department, in specific emergency situations, so as to enhance response efficiency; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) whether the authorities will integrate EAS with the "Internet of Things Fire Detection System" introduced at the end of 2025, so that when sensors installed in units or public spaces of buildings detect the occurrence of a fire, district-specific alerts will be issued to members of the public together with specific evacuation guidelines as well as information on nearby temporary shelters (e.g. safe escape routes and the locations of opened community halls), ensuring that members of the public affected by the fire can receive clear risk-avoidance information; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is established to enable government bureaux and departments to send emergency alerts to all mobile service users in Hong Kong via mobile networks in the event of serious and urgent emergencies, and is not intended for general information dissemination. Furthermore, the Government has recently upgraded the system to enable bureaux and departments to opt for issuing district-specific alerts to individual or multiple districts among the 18 Districts.
Both territory-wide and district-specific alerts are applicable only to major incidents, such as nuclear accidents, earthquakes and tsunamis. In fact, once the Government issues a territory-wide alert through the system, all mobile service users across Hong Kong will mandatorily receive an alert tone lasting for ten seconds and an emergency message from their mobile devices. Even for district-specific alerts, hundreds of thousands of mobile service users within the district(s) concerned will mandatorily receive the relevant alert tone. Given that the purpose of the system is to enable members of the public to take necessary contingency measures instantly to safeguard their personal safety, the activation of the alert will inevitably interrupt the activities or work that members of the public are engaged in at the material time, and may give rise to widespread public concern. On the other hand, frequent use of the EAS would very likely diminish public vigilance and awareness on the system, resulting in "alert fatigue". Therefore, when considering the deployment of this alert system, the Government must carefully assess the actual circumstances to determine whether it is necessary to disseminate important alerts through the system.
In response to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Ray Wong, having consulted the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, our reply is as follows:
(1) In general, fires rarely affect an entire district or require the immediate response of all residents within a district. Under such circumstances, activating a district-specific alert to notify hundreds of thousands of users within its coverage would significantly exceed the population actually affected by the incident. This would be disproportionate and would also cause unnecessary public panic. Therefore, in the majority of fire, on-site methods should be used to issue immediate alerts to the affected residents, including fire alarm systems (fire bells), warning sounds from fire engines and police vehicles at the scene, and on-site public address systems.
Furthermore, the fire alarm level is determined based on the resources and scale of mobilisation required, and is not directly related to the level of impact on the public. As such, the decision to issue an emergency alert should not be linked to the fire alarm level. However, in the event of a large-scale fire (such as an extensive hill fire) necessitating the immediate and large-scale evacuation of residents within an area, the Fire Services Department (FSD) will exercise its professional judgement on a case-by-case basis and activate the EAS to issue appropriate alerts as the situation requires.
(2) Alerts disseminated through the EAS are classified into two levels, namely the "Emergency Alert" for appealing to members of the public to take action(s) to avoid imminent danger to personal health, safety or property; and the "Extreme Emergency Alert" for urging members of the public to take immediate action(s) in response to obvious and imminent danger that may cause loss of life, serious personal injury and large-scale property damage. Mobile service users may choose not to receive EAS messages of the "Emergency Alert" level through the settings of their mobile phones, whereas messages of the "Extreme Emergency Alert" level are mandatory. Under the established mechanism, government bureaux and departments may, in the event of an emergency, when justified and upon obtaining approval from the relevant Secretary of Bureau (and also from the Chief Secretary for Administration if it is an "Extreme Emergency Alert"), disseminate alert messages through the EAS to remind members of the public to take contingency measures promptly.
Given the important and urgent nature of EAS alerts, the decision on whether to activate the system requires consideration of the territory-level systemic impact, and it is thus not appropriate to delegate the authority of activating district-specific emergency alerts to frontline commanders. In fact, the Government is capable of activating the alert system and issuing alerts within a short period of time when necessary. Furthermore, under the existing mechanism, government bureaux and departments may, as required, seek prior approval from their Secretary of Bureau or the Chief Secretary for Administration to formulate preset alert messages for specific situations, so as to further expedite message dissemination.
(3) The "Internet of Things Fire Detection System" (IoT FDS) offers real-time monitoring and rapid transmission of fire alarm signals, with wireless signals connecting the entire system. When the system detects a potential fire incident (for example, smoke or carbon monoxide), it will instantly alert the Fire Services Communications Centre through wireless signals, enabling the FSD to dispatch fire appliances to handle the fire incident at the incipient stage of a fire. As the concept and design of the system are not intended for identifying the scale of a fire, it is not appropriate to integrate the IoT FDS with the EAS for issuing district-specific alerts that are only applicable to major incidents.
Ends/Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:20
Issued at HKT 11:20
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