Firefighters battling Hong Kong’s deadliest inferno in decades prioritized controlling the blaze over evacuating residents due to its unprecedented scale, a public inquiry has heard. Four Fire Services Department officers testified on Monday about the initial stages of the 43-hour fire that ravaged Wang Fuk Court in November. Commander Raymond Wong King-man stated, “If you cannot put out the fire, how can you save those trapped inside?”
Four Fire Services Department officers on Monday shared details of the initial operation during a public evidential hearing of the judge-led independent committee. The 43-hour inferno ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, spreading rapidly across seven of the estate’s eight towers and trapping residents in their homes.
Raymond Wong King-man, then New Territories North deputy chief fire officer and now on pre-retirement leave, told the committee that the blaze remained fierce for the first 10 hours of November 26, posing immense challenges. By the morning of November 27, when he signed off as commander, the department had handled 129 of 310 calls for help from trapped residents, but only 13 rescues were completed by 10pm the previous day.
“We always say it’s a two-track process. If you cannot put out the fire, how can you save those trapped inside?” Wong said.
