The Fire Services Department (FSD) said it received 37,828 fire calls in 2024, representing an increase of 4.8% over 2023. In addition, there were 5,222 damaging fires, a rise of 154 cases over 2023.

In all, 95.6% of the building fire calls were responded to within the graded response time.

At a media session today presenting the FSD's 2024 Year-end Review, Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung recalled that a No. 3 alarm fire that broke out at New Lucky House in Jordan on April 10 led to multiple casualties. He pointed out that the department subsequently formed a dedicated team to investigate the causes of the incident and factors which led to it.

Separately, a No. 4 alarm fire broke out at a construction site on Hung Nga Road in Hung Shui Kiu on April 9. Mr Yeung noted that during this operation, the department used indoor locating equipment for the first time, enabling firefighters to monitor the real-time locations and safety conditions of frontline staff and show the locations of those awaiting rescue, so that the search time could be significantly reduced, while the safety of frontline staff could be enhanced.

Mr Yeung also reported that the FSD conducted 460,400 inspections last year and issued 17,775 Fire Hazard Abatement Notices, with 4,967 cases brought to prosecution.

In response to the tragic fire at New Lucky House, he said the department proactively conducted, under a risk-based principle, about 8,200 inspections of some 1,000 old composite buildings with relatively higher fire risk. A total of 8,661 notices were issued and over half of the cases were related to smoke stop door irregularities.

Regarding the certification and acceptance inspection of fire service installation and equipment, the FSD plans to deploy internal resources and establish the One-stop Co-ordination Office for New Fire Protection Facilities Acceptance in March 2025. Mr Yeung hopes that upon establishment of the co-ordination office, the overall time required for acceptance inspections could be reduced to within 35 working days in respect of average-scale regular projects.

To enhance the fire safety of old buildings, the department has completed the amendment to the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance which came into force on December 13 last year.

The main purpose of the amendment is to introduce the defaulted works mechanism, increase penalties as well as assist and drive target buildings to comply with the requirements, so that the fire safety standards of such buildings are enhanced to meet modern fire protection requirements, Mr Yeung explained.

The department also plans to establish the Building Improvement Special Duty Team by the first quarter of 2025 to proactively carry out inspections of 1,800 old buildings every year, strengthen law enforcement and enhance fire safety education, he added.