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Patsy Moy

One morning seven months ago Kwan King-fong got the fright of her life when the 70-year-old returned home from a reading class and found her public flat in Shek Yam East Estate ablaze.

Firefighters arrived in five minutes to put out the fire but her 40-year-old son, who is mentally challenged, was sent to hospital for burns suffered during his escape. While worried about  her son's condition, the elderly mother was also upset about extensive damage to her home.

'It was appalling. The roof was burned, but the floor, furniture and electrical appliances were all wet. Even my new coat had turned into ashes,' Kwan recalls.

As the fire occurred during  the Mid-Autumn Festival  holiday  there were no handymen available to repair the damage.  Feeling helpless, Kwan prayed for a miracle while staying with relatives.

Once again the Fire Services Department came to the rescue: a couple of days after the blaze, it

sent a  group of volunteers  who cleaned up her flat and repaired it in 72 hours.

Thanks to an initiative by the director of the Fire Services Department, Kwok Jing-keung, the 9,000-strong department doesn't just  extinguish fires. A volunteer post-fire service has been running in the department since September to rebuild homes for those who can't afford refurbishment.

The department already had a 400-strong volunteer team set up five years ago to help welfare agencies with services which require strong, fit volunteers to help with tasks such as  mowing grass and carrying disabled people. But the new volunteer group helps fire victims directly.

'It is lucky if victims can escape injuries,' says Francis Kong Ping-lam, senior divisional officer. 'But we always see people wailing at the scene of a fire when they witness their home being burnt down but can do nothing. Some also become hysterical. Housing plays a key role in Chinese culture. To many poor families, their homes are their entire assets.

'What we used to do for the families was very little besides putting out the fire. Families mostly wait for housing and relief arrangement from the Social Welfare and Housing Departments. But we would like to give them peace of mind at the earliest moment possible.'

Under the post-fire service, the department can promptly send volunteers after it liaises with the Housing Department which knows its tenants' background and can identify the needy.

Three families, including  Kwan's, have benefited so far. The other two were also elderly who lived alone in public flats. Since March, the department has expanded its service from public flats to include elderly  people living in dilapidated private buildings. The service has successfully appealed to companies and philanthropists who not only  donate money but also supply building materials.

The spending on each family is capped at HK$10,000, which is more than enough,  says divisional officer Ng Tze-yuen. Ng says renovation is costly but under the service is provided to the needy for free.

'Our mission is to help the old and the poor, especially elderly people who live by themselves without families. We have to be sure the services will go to the most needy,' Ng says.

About 200 firefighters and support staff from the department's original volunteer team have joined the new service. Kong and Ng, who organise the post-fire service,  screen volunteers carefully. They need to  be skilled at construction,  and able to  tile floors, paint walls and fix electrical wiring. Those who don't have these particular skills should be  fit and patient enough to clean up homes after a fire.

'They need to dispose of the debris and help the families move in new furniture. Sometimes they need to walk up and down the stairs if the buildings are too old to have a lift,' Ng says. If necessary, the team will also buy victims new furniture.

'Of course, we only buy basic items such as beds, chairs and tables that they need for having meals and rest,' says Ng. 'Some families are just too poor  to fix their home. Elderly people are  too frail to shop around and carry the new furniture home. So we think we have a role to play in helping them with all this.'

Trained as firefighters, the team operates quickly and is well-organised. Volunteers work on a shift basis when not on regular fire service duties, and take turns to help the victims rebuild their homes within days.

Kwan was surprised to see volunteers working in her home day and night. 'Even for private contractors, they only send one or two workers, not half a dozen like this one,' she says.

Firefighters Chan Ping-fai and Lam Sau-keung, who have been with the department for more than 20 years, were sent to repair Kwan's home. 'Our craftsmanship is not better than professional contractors, but we definitely work harder than them,' says Chan. 'We try to complete the job as soon as possible. If we stop, the cement used for building the floor would dry and be wasted. We don't want to waste the building materials which come from public donations.'

Lam doesn't know how to plaster or tile so he helps dispose of damaged heavy objects such as sofas, air conditioners and refrigerators.

Kong says volunteer work doesn't  just boost the department's team spirit, its staff also become more thoughtful when carrying out official duties.

'When putting out fires, we always seek ways to minimise damage to homes - like climbing through windows to get into flats rather than breaking doors unless it is necessary. We are also very cautious when shooting water.

'If the fire happens at midnight, homeowners always have to guard  the front door to wait for a locksmith to come the next day. But damages are inevitable if the fire causes immediate danger where we need to take more drastic action to save lives,' he says.

Last year, the department received more than 33,000 calls about building fires, and another 9,000 for other  emergencies, including  construction accidents, suicide attempts and people trapped in elevators.

But Chan says he enjoys the hectic mix of official duties and volunteer work.

'Our satisfaction comes from the change on a victim's face from a frown to a smile. Madam Kwan was very happy with our work and said her home looked even better than before the fire,' Chan says.

Kwan was thrilled when she came home to see the mess had been cleaned up, with the ceiling and floor fully repaired.

'It is always nice to come home instead of staying with friends or relatives. They helped a lot at a very difficult time when I was travelling back and forth several times a day to see my son in hospital, who was badly injured  in both legs. I was so frustrated and didn't even know who to call to fix my flat.'



Out of the ashes