An inquiry heard that a fire services company conducted no on-site checks and merely rubber-stamped 85 shutdown notices for a housing estate's hose reel system before Hong Kong's deadliest blaze in decades. A Fire Services Department official testified that another contractor failed to alert authorities after finding the estate's fire water tanks drained and power switches for hose reels and alarms turned off. The revelations emerged at the ninth hearing into the November fire in Tai Po that killed 168 people.
A government-created independent committee held its ninth hearing on Wednesday into the Tai Po fire, focusing on Wang Fuk Court's hose reel system and fire alarm deactivations. Lead counsel Victor Dawes revealed that China Status Development and Engineering, hired by renovation contractor Prestige Constructions and Engineering, submitted 85 shutdown notices for the fire hydrant and hose reel systems across the estate's eight blocks starting April 7 last year.
The fire services company conceded it performed no on-site inspections and acted merely as a "rubber stamp" for the contractor. The shutdowns allowed maintenance work on the rooftop fire service water tanks. Contractors must notify the Fire Services Department via shutdown notices for deactivating key systems overnight or for more than 24 hours; each notice is valid for 14 days.
Testimony from a Fire Services Department official noted that another contractor discovered the estate's fire water tanks drained and main power switches for hose reels and alarms turned off but failed to inform authorities.
The November blaze killed 168 people and displaced nearly 5,000, marking Hong Kong's deadliest in decades. Previous sessions had covered the shutdown rationale amid the renovations.
