Overwhelming generosity: fire crew unable to finish food and drinks donated by grateful public
Excess items thrown away, but department acknowledges support from residents
Dozens of boxes of food and cups of iced lemon tea donated by the public to the firefighters have gone to waste as the fierce battle against the Ngau Tau Kok fire continues for the third day on Friday.
The pan-fried beef noodles, Singaporean fried rice noodles and steamed pork rice in plastic boxes, as well as the iced beverages such as tea and water, were carried to the frontline by enthusiastic citizens to show their gratitude towards the crew.
For hours, the packages lay unopened on the ground under the summer sun in front of the burning building, until several cleaners loaded them onto a rubbish trolley and pushed it away.
The firefighters who had been coming in and out of the industrial building, from which white smoke continued to billow, were dining on supplies delivered by a truck from the Fire Department.
“There is too much food, we cannot finish it. You are welcome to have some too,” a firefighter told the Post’s reporter when asked why there was food and beverage in the middle of the road.