Hong Kong Fire Service Under Scrutiny at 18th Day of Wang Fuk Court Blaze Inquiry
Assistant director admits no written documentation exists for division of labor between fire department and building authorities as death toll reaches 168
L'essentiel
- An independent committee investigating Hong Kong's deadliest fire since 1948 held its 18th day of hearings on Thursday, with three Fire Services Department officers testifying.
- The November 2025 blaze at Tai Po's Wang Fuk Court killed 168 people and displaced nearly 5,000 residents.
- Assistant director Michael Yung Kam-hung admitted the department lacked written documentation outlining division of labour with building authorities, and that frontline staff were unclear about their scope of duties.
Résumé généré par IA
Pourquoi c'est important
The November 2025 Wang Fuk Court fire is Hong Kong's deadliest since 1948, killing 168 people including a firefighter. The blaze engulfed seven of eight buildings that were undergoing renovation at the time, displacing nearly 5,000 residents. The investigation focuses on whether fire safety regulations were properly enforced and whether inter-agency coordination failures contributed to the disaster.
The role of Hong Kong's fire service remains under the spotlight on the 18th day of evidential hearings held by an independent committee investigating the catastrophic blaze at Tai Po's Wang Fuk Court. Three officers from the Fire Services Department are testifying on Thursday before the judge-led panel. Four of their colleagues gave accounts the previous day of how the department responded to residents' complaints about fire hazards.
The blaze, which broke out on November 26, 2025, engulfed all but one of the estate's eight buildings, which were undergoing renovation at the time. Hong Kong's deadliest fire since 1948 killed 168 people, including a firefighter, and displaced nearly 5,000 residents.
Michael Yung Kam-hung, an assistant director who specializes in fire safety, told the committee on Wednesday that residents' complaints about the use of combustible construction materials and workers' smoking habits did not fall under the department's purview. He insisted the complaints should have been addressed by the Housing Bureau's Independent Checking Unit and the Labour Department instead.
Yung said there was an established division of labour between the fire service and building authorities, and that fire risk matters related to construction were usually handled by the latter as the department lacked professional knowledge to advise on engineering projects. But he also admitted that such a division of labour was not stipulated by any written documents. Some frontline staff of departments were not clear about the scope of duties of each government arm, which Yung conceded was "unacceptable".
The committee also heard that after receiving fire equipment shutdown notices from contractors, the department's initial inspections did not involve verifying reported defects but merely classified them based on contractors' descriptions.
Questions ouvertes
- Who bears primary responsibility for fire safety oversight during construction?
- Were there prior warnings about fire hazards that were not acted upon?
- What systemic reforms will be implemented to prevent similar tragedies?
