The Fire Services Department started a two-day citywide special fire safety inspection and enforcement operation yesterday on commercial buildings with a high fire risk to ensure public safety. 

In regulating the fire safety of licensed premises such as restaurants, the department specified relevant fire safety requirements to licence applicants and conducted inspections to ensure the premises complied with fire safety standards.

Inadequate management of buildings and individual premises may give rise to potential fire hazards, such as smoke stop doors being wedged open, means of escape obstructed or locked, the depositing of combustible articles in the means of escape, or fire service installation or equipment (FSIs) not in efficient working order.

Anticipating a significant increase in the number of people visiting commercial buildings with a higher number of licensed premises, the department targeted 132 such commercial buildings in its special fire safety inspection and enforcement operation.

A total of 376 fire hazard abatement notices were issued for various fire hazards, and 53 prosecutions were initiated.

Among the buildings, 57 were suspected of lacking annual inspections for FSIs which the department has followed up in a serious manner.