The Fire Services Department said today that in response to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, it has maintained close collaboration with property management organisations and stepped up inspections of fire service installations and equipment (FSIs) in buildings since December 4.

The department has redeployed manpower internally to enhance inspections of FSIs 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.

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

Additionally, it 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.

The department emphasised that apart from ensuring annual inspections of FSIs are conducted in their premises in accordance with the Fire Service (Installations & Equipment) Regulations, property management bodies must also proactively discharge their management duties and assist property owners in properly maintaining the FSIs in common areas to ensure their continuous and effective operation.

The FSD also reminds property management personnel to inspect the FSIs regularly during daily work and assist owners and their organisations to handle any damage or malfunction of the FSIs 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.

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

The department will continue to lead the Inter-departmental Fire Investigation Task Force to probe the cause of the fire at Wang Fuk Court, including investigation of the FSIs. As the investigation has revealed that the condition of the buildings' FSIs may involve criminal elements, the case is being followed up by Police.