Building checks find dozens of fire alarms on blink

The Fire Services Department on Thursday said it found dozens of fire alarm systems in 1,500 buildings it inspected across the city that were not working properly. Carried out in the first two months of the year, the operation, codenamed Outpost, covered residential and mixed-use buildings, including some that were undergoing major renovations. More than 2,500 fire hazard abatement notices were issued after officers found fire alarm systems malfunctioning at 53 buildings. Acting senior divisional officer (policy) Law Kin-san said the compliance period for such notices was halved from the usual 60 days to ensure that those in charge carried out remedial measures as soon as possible. "Although this kind of fire hazard abatement notices has a shorter compliance date, we have a compliance rate of over 90 percent,” he said. "It means the occupiers or the owners ... are able to rectify this.” Law said prosecutions have also been initiated over violations involving fire safety installations at 75 buildings, including not conducting annual checks for equipment. Law described the operation as effective, adding the department has extended the operation by two years starting in April to cover another 5,000 old residential and mixed-use buildings that are undergoing major works involving the use of scaffolding. He said officers would ensure that fire safety installations at buildings that are not targeted under the operation are up to par. “We still have various kinds of operations or routine duties for the Fire Services Department to monitor their situation, [to] monitor whether they have performed any inspection to their fire service installations,” Law said. “We will carry out a lot of audits to make sure the registered fire service installation contractors are doing their job properly and professionally.” Edited by Tony Sabine