Hong Kong warehouse’s failed fire systems to be reviewed after 6-hour battle to put out No 3 alarm blaze; 7 injured, 3,600 evacuated from nearby area
- Cause of blaze in Cheung Sha Wan to be investigated, but firefighters say it was likely caused by sparks from tools operated by workers at site
- Firefighters eventually extinguished blaze at 8.40pm, more than six hours after it was first reported
Hong Kong firefighters will look into failed fire suppression systems at a warehouse in Cheung Sha Wan after it took more than six hours to put out a No 3 alarm blaze that left seven people injured and forced the evacuation of about 3,600 pupils and residents from nearby schools and homes.
Ten workers were rescued after the blaze broke out on the second floor of a cold storage warehouse on Friday, the Fire Services Department said. Two of them suffered minor injuries and did not need hospital treatment.
Emergency personnel were called to the scene at the Yuen Fat Wharf & Godown building on Fat Cheung Street in Cheung Sha Wan at 1.49pm. Thick smoke was seen billowing out from the second and third floors of the eight-storey building.
The fire was upgraded to a No 3 alarm at 2.10pm. Blazes in the city are rated on a scale of one to five according to their seriousness.
The fire was under control by 7pm, and declared largely extinguished at 8.40pm, more than six hours after it was first reported.
Wilson Kong Wai-chung, the Fire Service Department’s divisional officer for Kowloon West, said the blaze was likely caused by sparks from tools operated by workers at the site and fuelled by flammable materials believed to contain plastic.
But he added it would take further investigation to ascertain what the materials were.