Stark reminders from deadly blaze

Continuing efforts

To identify potential fire risks in buildings, the FSD launched a risk-based building fire safety visit program in 2017.

Under the program, regular building inspections based on risk factors are conducted to enable the department's front-line personnel to familiarize themselves with the situation at each place and plan for possible firefighting and rescue operations.

To meet fire protection requirements, the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance stipulates that composite and domestic buildings completed on or before March 1, 1987, or those that have submitted construction work plans for approval on or before that day, must be upgraded.

About 13,500 buildings across the city are covered by the regulation, including 2,230 in Yau Tsim Mong.

The standard fire safety provisions call for the installation of fire-rated doors, fixed lights and special enclosures for non-emergency services.

By the first quarter of this year, 69,078 fire safety orders had been issued to owners and occupiers of 8,689 targeted buildings concerning fire safety measures to be taken. As of May, up to 1,690 buildings in Yau Tsim Mong had been inspected and issued with such orders.

As for fire safety education, the FSD launched a Building Fire Safety Envoy Scheme in 2008 and has continued to train property management staff, owners and occupants of buildings as building fire safety envoys to raise public awareness of fire safety.

The envoys help to distribute fire safety messages to the occupants of buildings, report fire hazards or irregularities, ensure the effectiveness and maintenance of fire service installations and equipment in their buildings, and organize fire drills and fire safety activities for residents.

To provide financial support for owners of old buildings, the Urban Renewal Authority said the government set aside HK$2 billion for fire safety improvement in 2018 to subsidize eligible owners of old composite buildings in carrying it out. The allocation was subsequently increased to HK$5.5 billion, covering up to 6,500 buildings.

The Jordan blaze broke out as the city's ethnic minorities marked the Hindu festival of Diwali. The affected families were provided with counseling, housing assistance, financial aid, and other support services, the Social Welfare Department said.

"Medical and social workers from Integrated Family Service Centers had reached out to help the families of the deceased, injured and all the households affected by the blaze," the department said.

The special administrative region government has also been promoting fire safety awareness among ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong. The FSD said to promote fire safety awareness among these groups, it has been making sustained efforts to reach out to them, as well as relevant organizations, to foster closer communication and increase fire safety education.