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longer possible for firemen to fill simultaneously the role of fire- fighter and rescuer, and the service now has highly specialized search and rescue teams. These teams have rescued over 2,000 persons from places of peril in the last year. To provide the minimum standard of fire protection needed to contain fire losses within the boundaries necessary for the continuance of industrial progress, plans are in hand for the construction of a score or more strategi- cally deployed fire stations. During this year two additional fire stations and one ambulance depot were operationally commissioned. The planned development of the service aims at providing sufficient stations to ensure that fire appliances can reach the scene of any incident within six minutes from the time of call.
In April, the Ambulance Service, which since 1953 has operated under the control of the Fire Services Department, was reconstituted as a semi-autonomous division. The re-constitution of the ambulance elements of the service includes provision of senior ambulance officers and specialized members of the rank and file to man ambu- lances. The division has at present 56 ambulances.
Two Colony-scale emergencies greatly taxed the resources and ingenuity of the service during the year, namely the Kowloon civil disturbances in April and the torrential rains in June. During the civil disturbances, appliances and personnel attending fires came under attack, and numerous obstacles and obstructions were strewn across the roads to mpede traffic imovement. Although a number of firemen were injured none sustained serious injuries, and damage to appliances was mainly superficial. Despite the problems and difficulties confronting Kowloon divisions during the disturbances, all calls involving danger to life or property were attended and disposed of without serious casualties. At one stage Mainland Fire Command Headquarters, situated in the old Mong Kok Police Station, was attacked and set alight by demonstrators. However, the fire was quickly extinguished and the premises suffered only very minor damage.
During the June rainstorm the service was inundated with calls for assistance. The rains caused wholesale destruction to telephone and other communication systems and flooded the Fire Control to a depth of some three to six feet. This necessitated the setting up of an emergency Fire Control in Fire Service Headquarters and