The majority of public housing estate fires last year were due to negligence, the Housing Authority says.

Over-heating during cooking was the biggest single cause, totalling more than 900 cases, followed by improper handling of cigarette ends, matches or candles, which accounted for over 140 cases.

The authority has recently been upgrading its fire services installations in estates to enhance fire safety. Fire alarm systems in most older estates have been upgraded over the past five years.

With the upgraded systems, frontline caretakers of housing blocks can now identify instantly the exact floor where the fire alarm is activated, and respond appropriately, Deputy Director of Housing (Estate Management) Lau Kai-hung said.

Some false fire alarms last year were caused by prolonged periods of high humidity and unstable weather. Mr Lau said some fire alarm modules have now been moved from humid locations or replaced by waterproof models, and smoke detectors are cleaned more frequently to reduce accumulation of dust and moisture. Consequently false alarms have dropped sharply.

The authority will extend the improvement works to all housing estates in need.