Fire Services

The Fire Services Department fights fires, protects life and property in case of fires and other calamities, provides emergency ambulance services and gives fire protection advice to the public.

The department's establishment of staff comprises 8 688 uniformed and 659 civilian members. It is one of the world's finest fire brigades, with well-trained personnel, advanced communication systems, and modern equipment and appliances.

The department responded to 37 774 fire calls, 19 918 special service calls and 526 565 ambulance calls in 2003, representing an average of 1 600 calls a day.

Fire Suppression

Of the 37 774 fire calls received in 2003, 11 were classified as major fires of No. 3 alarm. Careless handling or disposal of smoking materials was still the major cause of fires, totalling 3 160 cases in all, followed by accidents involving the preparation of foodstuffs and electrical faults, which accounted for 2 563 and 863 cases, respectively. Unwanted alarms, caused mainly by faulty automatic alarm systems or poor positioning of such systems, contributed to 64.7 per cent of the total number of fire calls.

Two fatal fires involving improper use and excessive storage of inflammable substances in industrial buildings occurred on April 25 and May 10, both in Kwai Chung. The two No. 3 alarm fires caused the deaths of four people and injuries to 14 others, including two firemen.

The powers of Fire Services personnel to investigate the cause of fires have been strengthened under the Fire Services (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 and the Fire Services (Fire Hazard Abatement) Regulation, which take effect on January 1, 2004.

Special Services

The department also provides a wide range of rescue services in incidents such as traffic accidents, people trapped in lifts or locked in rooms, gas leakages, house collapses, flooding, landslides, industrial accidents and attempts by people to jump from a height. The department handled 19 918 emergency special service calls in 2003. Among the major incidents attended was a traffic accident on July 10 in which a double-decker bus plunged 40 metres from Tuen Mun Road on to a hill slope at Ting Kau Village, killing 21 people and injuring 22 others. In another major incident, a Government Flying Service helicopter crashed on a hill slope at Pak Kung Pass, about 300 metres from Tung Chung Road, on August 26. The pilot and the crewman were killed.

Ambulance Services

The Ambulance Command handled 475 407 patients during the year, representing 1 302 patients per day. A total of 7 175 suspected or confirmed SARS cases were handled by ambulances during the outbreak of the disease.

The department is committed to developing paramedic ambulance services for the public. About 80 per cent of the ambulance fleet has been equipped and manned at paramedic level. All ambulances and paramedic motorcycles are equipped with automatic external defibrillators. A fourth Mobile Casualty Treatment Centre was acquired to enhance efficiency in handling incidents with multiple casualties.

The department has also sought to improve the survival rate of casualties and patients before their arrival at hospital. A pilot 'first-responder programme', which trained front-line firemen to provide basic life support to casualties and patients before the arrival of an ambulance crew, was introduced in September.

Communications

The Fire Services Communication Centre, manned round the clock, is responsible for mobilising all fire-fighting and ambulance resources for providing efficient and effective fire and ambulance services to the community. The centre is also responsible for receiving complaints about fire hazards and dangerous goods. It acts as an emergency coordinator for other government departments and public utilities in large-scale emergencies or major incidents.

In order to meet the projected growth of emergency calls over the next 10 years, a $445 million Third Generation Mobilising System is being developed to replace the current Second Generation Mobilising System. The cutover to the system is expected to start in August 2004, and be implemented in phases.

Fire Safety

The Community Relations Division under the Fire Safety Command is responsible for enhancing the public's knowledge of fire safety and for coordinating actions with other government departments and District Fire Safety Committees in stepping up fire prevention publicity in the community. In 2003, 1 997 fire drills at various locations and 5 055 fire safety talks and seminars were conducted by the division and local fire stations for various community sectors.

The Commercial Buildings and Premises Division enforces the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance with the objective of upgrading fire safety measures in respect of specified commercial buildings and prescribed commercial premises. The Director of Buildings administers a Building Safety Loan Scheme, which provides non-means tested loans to individual owners who require financial assistance in carrying out building safety (including fire safety) improvement works, either on a voluntary basis or as required by law. Owners are required to pay interest calculated in accordance with the no-gain, no-loss principle. Those facing hardship, such as the elderly or people with very low income, may apply for interest-free loans and longer repayment periods.

In order to enlist more people to assist in reporting fire hazards and disseminating fire prevention messages, the Fire Safety Ambassador Scheme has been extended to 201 organisations, including schools, public transport companies, major property management companies, government departments, homes for the elderly and hotels. A total of 11 131 people were trained as Fire Safety Ambassadors during the year.

A major fire prevention publicity programme was launched on December 7, focusing on the safe use of inflammable substances. A series of publicity activities, including broadcasting fire safety messages on television and radio, and fire station open days, was organised. A mobile publicity unit was widely used for promoting fire safety and conducting roving exhibitions at schools and public housing estates.

To improve building fire safety and heighten the public's awareness of the need to maintain fire service installations and equipment in buildings, the Fire Service Installation Task Force stepped up monitoring efforts. A total of 45 888 inspections were made. The Task Force also monitors the performance of registered fire service installation contractors, with 445 random checks carried out. Legal action was taken against 17 contractors who had contravened the Fire Service (Installation Contractors) Regulations or the Fire Service (Installations and Equipment) Regulations.

With the construction of Hong Kong Disneyland and its associated projects well under way, the Theme Park Projects Division, which is responsible for formulating fire safety requirements, maintains close liaison and meets regularly with all parties concerned to give advice. The commissioning of the KCRC's West Rail in December involved the deployment of additional manpower to the Railway Development Strategy Division to carry out acceptance tests on the new railway's fire service installations.

The Licensing and Certification Command sets fire services requirements for buildings and various types of licensed premises as well as dangerous goods stores and vehicles to ensure proper protection for the public. Some 10 008 submissions of building plans were processed during the year. Fire Services personnel conducted 173 139 fire safety inspections of all types of premises and issued 12 523 fire hazard abatement notices requiring the removal of fire hazards. These helped to ensure that fire prevention measures met the required standards and enhanced public awareness of fire safety. There were 709 prosecutions in cases of contravention of the Fire Services Ordinance, the Dangerous Goods Ordinance and the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance, with fines amounting to $1,605,410. Direct prosecutions for obstructing the means of escape in buildings resulted in 59 convictions, with fines totalling $280,010.

The newly enacted Fire Services (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 and its subsidiary Fire Services (Fire Hazard Abatement) Regulation enhance the regulatory framework in tackling new forms of fire hazards, such as those arising from illicit fuel activities and the improper conveyance or stowage of vehicle parts stained with fuel.

Appliances and Equipment

In 2003, the department operated 820 fire appliances and supporting vehicles fitted with up-to-date fire-fighting and rescue equipment. Fire appliances procured during the year included nine hydraulic platforms, eight major pumps, one rescue tender, one lighting tender, six light rescue units, four 37-metre turntable ladders, three hook-lift trucks, three workshop vans and one mobile casualty treatment centre. A new diving support vessel was commissioned in February to enhance the department's maritime search and rescue capability.

Training

The Fire Services Training School provides initial training courses for new recruits to the Station Officer and Fireman ranks. The training programme covers basic fire-fighting techniques, compartment fire behaviour training, operation of fire appliances and equipment, breathing apparatus, ambulance aid and physical training. Subjects covering fire protection, legislation, physics and science of combustion are included. Altogether, 154 recruits completed the initial training during the year. A total of 2 138 in-service members also attended continuation training courses.

Apart from providing basic initial training for recruits, the school also provided training courses for 497 staff of other government departments and private organisations on basic fire-fighting techniques and the use of breathing apparatus. The school also co-organised with the Labour Department and the Education and Manpower Bureau a Youth Pre-employment Training Programme and a Smart Teen Challenge Project, respectively. These programmes aim at providing discipline, leadership and fire prevention training to young people and secondary school students. During the year, a total of 102 young people and 2 026 students attended the courses.

The Ambulance Command Training School provides a 26-week basic training programme for recruit ambulance officers and ambulancemen on ambulance aid, anatomy and physiology, mountain rescue and physical training; cardiac-pulmonary resuscitation training and refresher training for the staff of homes for the elderly, schools, community organisations and other government departments; advanced ambulance aid training and automated external defibrillator training for fire personnel; and paramedic training at Emergency Medical Assistant (EMA) II level for ambulance personnel. The school trained 63 new recruits and ran 12 EMA II recertification courses and 10 advanced airway management courses for 249 ambulance personnel during the year.

In-service training was provided to 5 983 fire and 3 247 ambulance personnel, while 31 officers were selected to attend various training programmes in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Germany and the Mainland.

New Stations and Depots

In line with the Government's policy to provide an emergency response to all areas within minimum set times according to the category of risk, the department continued to plan and build fire stations and ambulance depots at strategic locations to cope with local development and service needs. During the year, the Lau Fau Shan Fire Station cum Ambulance Depot and the new Sha Tau Kok Fire Station were commissioned.

Public Liaison Group

The Public Liaison Group was set up to encourage public participation in monitoring and improving the delivery of emergency fire and ambulance services. Thirty members of the public from all walks of life were randomly selected from among 100 applicants to form the group's ninth-term membership during the year.