Fire-safety engineering is coming of age in Hong Kong as experts ensure safety standards are as high as the city's impressive skyscrapers.
Members of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers' (HKIE) youngest discipline would rather it was the science of fire-engineering research alone and not tragedies worldwide which influenced evacuation and fire-containment methods in high-rise buildings.
'The implementation of fire-safety engineering in Hong Kong started from the early '90s,' said Richard Yuen Kwok-kit, associate professor at the City University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Science and Engineering.
'So, the discipline is fairly young here compared to the United States, where it developed in the 1970s.
'We have good reason to use fire-safety engineering here as, especially in terms of density, we must have the highest concentration of high-rises in the world.'
Prevention and a safety-first philosophy is a priority as architectural plans take shape. A growing band of professionals in the industry ensure projects meet stringent requirements contained in what local fire-safety engineers refer to as the 'bible' or 'red book' - the Fire Safety Code of Practice, issued by the Fire Services Department.
