More steps urged to prevent fires in HK

Updated: 2011-12-01 07:28

By Li Likui (China Daily)

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HONG KONG - The second fire in less than a year on Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok has raised questions about the safety of the city's tenements and about the fire regulations that govern the use of hawker stalls.

Nine people died and more than 30 were injured, six of them critically, after a fire ignited in a hawker stall on the street and spread to a tenement on Wednesday morning.

Zhao Minghong, whose family fled from the blaze, lived in an apartment four buildings away from the fire scene. Zhao's 9-year-old son, Chung Chun-yan, said he didn't know what was happening when Zhao woke him up.

"I am seriously considering moving," said Zhao, who came to the area in 2009 and has seen two fires since then. "This place is too dangerous."

York Chow, secretary for food and health, said the government has taken a series of measures to prevent deadly fires. Donald Tsang, Hong Kong chief executive, was more blunt.

Visiting Kwong Wah Hospital, he said the government has not done enough to prevent fires.

Chow said the government has done more to prevent fires since the 2010 arson, which caused widespread damage. He said stall operators are now required to store goods within specific places and at a certain distance from surrounding buildings. Such goods must also not be easily ignited. "So I believe all the warnings and regulations were in place," Chow said.

Chow said the government is not looking at having the street where the fire occurred cleared. He noted the site is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city.

Clement Leung Cheuk-man, director of food and environmental hygiene, said street hawkers have been prosecuted more than 600 times over fire hazards since the previous fire. He also said about 200 warning letters were issued during November to vendors whose goods were obstructing the pavement.

Zhao said she has not seen changes except that the government has restored places that were scorched. "I even saw more stalls installed in the empty space around the end of the street."

After the deadly 2010 fire, some said owners' corporations should be responsible for installing stalls, said Chan Wai-keung, a district council member.

Chan also said some owners of the stall may have failed to follow the regulations strictly. He said that the stalls were once kept orderly but tend to become messy and obstructive during holiday seasons, when goods pile up.

Chan suggested the government impose measures such as those that apply on Tung Choi Street, where stalls can be open only during the daytime, and must be closed and removed at night.

Yau Tsim Mong District Council will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to look into whether the Fire Services Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department have enforced the laws strictly.

Andrea Deng and Fan Feifei contributed to this story.