fire-prevention measures must be strengthened

A four-alert fire, rarely seen in Hong Kong in recent years, broke out yesterday and continued to burn for over 12 hours.　　A senior firefighter was unfortunately killed in fighting the blaze, and several others were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

The SC Storage where the fire started is located at Amoycan Industrial Centre on Ngau Tau Kok Road in Kowloon Bay.　　The building has seven storeys, and each storey has a floor area of 2,400 square metres, which is partitioned into over 200 independent storage units.　　As Hong Kong's living space is too expensive, mini-storage industry has emerged to meet the demand in recent years.　　Many people have rented mini storage units to store things, which they cannot keep at home yet are loath to part with, such as furniture, clothes, appliances and books.　　A mini storage unit's monthly rental normally is several hundred dollars.　　The SC Storage where the blaze broke out yesterday is a sizeable one in the industry, with quite many clients.

The blaze broke out at about 11.00 am yesterday.　　At that time there were several staffers of the SC Storage inside who fled to safety in time.　　But there were only narrow passageways on that floor surrounded by locked storage units.　　　　Firefighters could not get into the fire scene to find out where the fire had started.　　They then had to pull up scaling ladders to smash window glasses and inject water inside.　　When glasses were broken, heavy smoke kept floating out, so much so that traffic, both coming and going, once was blocked.

In the meantime, Senior Station Officer Thomas Cheung Yiu-sing and another firefighter took the lead to take a risk rushing into the fire scene.　　But contact with them soon was lost.　　The commanding officer on the spot sent a breathing apparatus team to reinforce.　　Some 10 minutes later they found the passed-out Thomas Cheung on the ground.　　He was rushed to hospital and certified dead.

A small mini storage thus caused a disastrous fire.　　Senior Station Officer Thomas Cheung was a graduate of the University of Hong Kong, who choose to serve citizens by joining the fire services department.　　He unfortunately lost his young life in blaze, survived by his wife and a four-month-old baby.　　This is really saddening.

Firefighting is a life-risking job.　　The most dangerous in firefighting is to rush into a fire scene.　　Last year, the Fire Services Department had asked for more resources to buy advanced communication equipment on fire scenes so as to reduce the risk of losing contact with firefighters, and the fund application was passed at the Legislative Council (Legco).　　But it has yet to find out whether the equipment concerned is already equipped and how effective it is.　　

The big fire also exposes some problems in supervision on this emerging industry of mini-storage.　　The SC Storage, where the blaze broke out, is located in an old-fashion industrial building with no automatic fire sprinklers installed on the ceilings.　　It is only quipped with fire extinguishers and hoses which are barely enough to deal with some sporadic small fires.　　However, when a four-alert fire like yesterday's breaks out, the whole mini storage would become a "big furnace" with the fire burning inside and there is no way for heavy smoke to float out.

At present there is no special requirements for fire prevention facilities in regard to running mini storages.　　Probably the requirements are the same as those for old-fashion industrial buildings.　　But in view of yesterday's four-alert fire, a mini storage has special arrangement in the use of space and stores a large amount of goods of great variety.　　Even the operator of a mini storage does not know what are stored inside.　　Once a fire breaks out, fire fighters can only blindly feel their way in a "maze" to fight it.　　It is not hard to imagine how difficult and dangerous it is.

　　 Therefore, after the four-alert fire at the SC Storage, relevant authorities need to conduct a thorough review on the operation and management of the mushrooming mini storages, including their fire-prevention facilities and the problems of insurance and compensation for their clients.　　In addition, the surviving families of Senior Station Officer Thomas Cheung must be given all-out assistance.　　In this regard, it was timely and necessary for Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to express his sadness and concern yesterday. 　　22 June 2016