The Fire Services Department will consider requiring old buildings to upgrade fire safety equipment following Monday's blaze at a 49-year-old Cheung Sha Wan factory, in which a fireman was killed.
The nine-storey Lai Cheong Factory Building in Lai Chi Kok remained close yesterday as government inspectors investigated the cause of the four-alarm blaze that broke out on Monday at 8.19am.
Senior fireman Yeung Chun-kit, 47, died in hospital after being pulled from the rubble of the building. Three other firemen were injured.
The building, among about 650 old industrial buildings built before 1973, has no sprinkler system. Regulations did not require sprinkler systems to be installed at the time the buildings were built, according to the Fire Services Department.
Deputy director of Fire Services Chan Chor-kam told RTHK yesterday that the department will consider amending the laws to require old factory buildings to upgrade equipment, such as installing sprinklers, to improve fire safety.
Engineers said it will be technically difficult to install fire safety facilities in many industrial buildings because of their old designs and limited space. To install a sprinkler system, a large water tank - typically weighing up to 20 tonnes - has to be built. That might be too heavy for old buildings. In such cases, Chan said smaller water tanks might be allowed.