PUBLIC ORDER
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The year marked an important chapter in the department's history: the service commemorated its 125th anniversary; it started recruiting female station officers, in a bid to help relieve recruitment difficulties; and it introduced a pilot scheme for a paramedic ambulance service. In addition, the department seconded a local fire officer to a British fire services college as its first overseas instructor.
The department's 125th anniversary was celebrated with a series of commemorative events. The highlights included a review by the Governor of fire services personnel and appliances at the Sha Tin Fire Station Complex on October 27. Many senior fire and ambulance officials from China and overseas attended.
Fire Suppression
During 1993, the department responded to a total of 28 804 fire calls, 54 of which were classified as major fires of No. 3 alarm and above. Careless handling or disposal of smoking materials remained a major cause of fires, totalling 4 779 cases in all.
The fires claimed 32 lives and injured 618 people. Among the injured were 37 firemen. A total of 25 788 people were rescued by Fire Services personnel.
Notable fire incidents during the year included a No. 3 alarm at a home for the elderly in Boundary Street in June, which killed two women and injured 30 others; a No. 4 alarm in a factory building in Lee Chung Street in August, injuring 15 people; and the gutting of the casino ship New Orient Princess in August, in which firemen battled the blaze for several days.
Shenzhen Fire
A fire broke out at a dangerous goods storage depot in Shenzhen on the afternoon of August 5, leading to a series of explosions in which 15 people died and more than 100 others were injured.
In response to the Xinhua News Agency's approach for assistance from the Hong Kong Government, the Director of Fire Services and two senior fire officers flew to the fire scene by helicopter that same night to assess the situation and determine how the Hong Kong Fire Services might help. A fleet of fire engines and fire officers were placed on standby at the Sheung Shui Fire Station, in case of call-out.
Preparations were made for several helicopters and a team of fire services personnel to take off from Hong Kong for the fire scene again the next morning to water-bomb the scene of the incident. In the event, the pre-dawn mission was called off at the last minute, when the Hong Kong Government was informed that the fire had been brought under control by the Shenzhen authorities.
This was the first time the Hong Kong Fire Services had been asked for help by its Chinese counterparts.
Special Services
Apart from fire-fighting, the department also provides wide-ranging rescue services to people in incidents such as traffic accidents, trapped lifts, lock-in cases, gas leakages, industrial accidents, attempts to jump from a height, house collapses and landslides.
In 1993, the department received 18 500 calls for special services. The most significant alerts were the Lan Kwai Fong tragedy in the early hours of New Year's Day, when 21 people died and more than 80 others were injured; the collapse of a passenger hoist in Java