The Fire Services Department (FSD) stepped up inspections of fire service installations and equipment in buildings across Hong Kong since Dec 4, responding to a deadly fire in the northern Tai Po district, which claimed at least 160 lives.

The FSD has maintained close collaboration with property management organizations since the Nov 26 fire that tore through seven of eight buildings of the Wang Fuk Court housing estate.

The department has redeployed manpower internally to enhance inspections of fire service installations and equipment in buildings, particularly those undergoing major maintenance, and has proactively inspected the functional status of fire alarms.

“Should any non-compliance be identified, the department will conduct thorough investigations and decisively take enforcement action,” according to a government statement.

At the same time, the department has redeployed personnel to promptly follow up on reports of abnormal operation of fire service installations and equipment in buildings and will take appropriate enforcement action accordingly, it added.

The FSD earlier engaged in in-depth exchanges with the Property Management Services Authority, the Hong Kong Association of Property Management Companies, the Housing Authority, the Housing Society, and the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong.

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Apart from ensuring annual inspections of fire service installations and equipment are conducted properly in their premises, property management bodies must also proactively discharge their management duties and assist property owners in properly maintaining the installations and equipment in common areas to ensure their continuous and effective operation, says the department.

The FSD has also reminded property management personnel to inspect the fire service installations and equipment regularly during daily work and assist owners and their organizations to handle any damage or malfunction of the installations and equipment in a timely manner.

“To address public concerns regarding the performance of building fire alarms, stakeholders have agreed to promote voluntary fire alarm testing to safeguard public safety,” reads the statement.

The scope of the testing includes checking that manual call points are intact and capable of activating the fire alarm system; ensuring a stable power supply to fire service installations and equipment, and reliable operation ofthe  standby power supply; and verifying that signals transmitted from fire control panels are normal with no false alarms or failures.

The FSD is leading the Inter-departmental Fire Investigation Task Force to investigate the cause of the Tai Po fire, including investigation of the FSIs.

“As the investigation has revealed that the condition of the buildings' fire service installations and equipment may involve criminal elements, the case is being followed up by the police,” adds the statement.