4-hour fight against Central fire

A Central building burned for 30 minutes yesterday before emergency services were alerted because automatic alarms were not installed, firemen said.

It took about 100 firemen almost four hours to extinguish the blaze, on the top floor of the 24-storey Melbourne Plaza in Queen's Road Central, after a passer-by called police shortly before 7 am. Part of the road was closed, causing rush-hour traffic to bank up to Wan Chai. There was no one in the building, built in 1966 when alarms or sprinklers were not legally required.