Residents complain of ‘scorching smell’ as Hong Kong recycling site burns for 5 hours
- No 2 alarm blaze, which broke out just before dawn, sent smoke drifting through nearby neighbourhoods before it was extinguished at 10am
- While there were no injuries, air quality monitoring station showed levels of suspended particulate matter jumped in nearby areas
A fire that broke out early on Tuesday morning at a scrap metal recycling site in Hong Kong’s Kwai Tsing district left some locals complaining of a “scorching smell” as smoke drifted through their neighbourhoods over the course of five hours.
The No 2 alarm blaze started at 5.38am at the site on Tsing Yi Road in Tsing Yi South, according to the Fire Services Department, and was largely extinguished by 10.36am.
A department spokeswoman said the affected area measured about 100 metres by 200 metres. Firefighters used one small water cannon and mobilised one breathing apparatus team to fight the blaze. No injuries were reported.
The Environmental Protection Department said air quality data collected at the city’s monitoring station in Tsuen Wan showed the smoke created a slight increase in respiratory suspended particulate levels.
According to the government’s air quality health index, the PM10 (or particulate matter) pollution levels rose from 22.4 at 6am to 43.5 at 8am in Tsuen Wan. In nearby Kwai Chung, it jumped from 29.8 at 6am to 33.3 at 10am.
While the fire was still burning, the department urged residents in Tsuen Wan, Tsing Yi and Kwai Chung districts who might be affected by the smoke to “close their doors and windows if necessary and stay calm”.
Kwai Tsing district councillor Sin Ho-fai said he received more than 10 complaints from residents in the nearby districts early on Tuesday morning.
He said the bad odour, which some residents described as a “scorching smell”, had mostly disappeared by about 11am.
