An independent committee probing last year’s Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po heard that Hong Kong’s Fire Services Department declined to issue an emergency alert due to fears of confusion and the system’s one-hour activation time. The blaze killed 168 people, Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948. Officers testified on responsibilities and response failures.
An independent committee held evidential hearings on April 23, 2026, into the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po on November 26, 2025. The blaze, lasting around 43 hours, ravaged seven of the estate’s eight towers under renovation, killing 168 people including a firefighter and displacing nearly 5,000 residents.
Fire Services Department officers testified that they declined to activate the emergency alert system, which triggers a high-pitched alarm on mobile phones, due to fears of confusion and because it takes up to one hour to activate, offering little help for evacuations. A property management employee had switched off fire hosepipes for water tank repairs during a HK$336 million renovation, inadvertently disabling alarms across the towers.
Assistant Director Michael Yung Kam-hung said residents’ complaints about combustible construction materials and workers’ smoking did not fall under the department’s purview but should have been handled by the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit and the Labour Department. He conceded that the division of labour lacked written documentation and frontline staff confusion was “unacceptable”.
Leading counsel Victor Dawes SC noted that five of seven affected towers caught fire relatively late, suggesting time for evacuations. Judge David Lok urged distinguishing firefighting from fire prevention, acknowledging difficult on-scene decisions. The hearings marked the 18th day, examining response failures and complaint handling.
