PUBLIC ORDER
The department's establishment of 9 074 staff comprised 8 276 uniformed and 798 civilian members. It is one of the world's finest fire brigades, with well-trained personnel, advanced communication systems, and modern equipment and appliances. The department responded to 37 846 fire calls, 20 813 special service calls and 464 248 ambulance calls during 1998, representing an average of 1 433 calls a day.
To formulate a strategy to improve fire safety in private buildings, the Fire Services Department conducted a building survey in February and March 1998 to assess the fire safety conditions in different types of private buildings across Hong Kong. The survey revealed that only 28 per cent of private buildings had their fire service. installations and fire safety management rated as 'satisfactory'. A two-month public consultation on proposals to improve fire safety in private buildings was launched in June. The community was supportive of the government's objective to improve fire safety and building management in private buildings. There was also general consensus that there was a close correlation between good building management and fire safety.
Fire Suppression
Of the 37 846 fire calls received in 1998, 32 were classified as major fires of No. 3 alarm and above. Careless handling or disposal of smoking materials was still the major cause of fires, totalling 4 345 cases in all, followed by accidents involving the preparation of foodstuffs and electrical faults, which accounted for 2 924 and 1 417 cases respectively. Unwanted alarms, caused mainly by faulty automatic alarm. systems or their poor positioning, contributed to about 56.9 per cent of the total number of fire calls.
Fires claimed 14 lives and 730, including 19 firemen, were injured. Fire Services personnel rescued 3 706 people. Notable fires during the year included: a No. 4 alarm at Golden Court in North Point on January 6, claiming two lives and 50 injuries; a No. 3 alarm in a Kwun Tong composite (commercial/residential) building on February 4 claiming four lives, and nine injuries, a No. 3 alarm at the new airport at Chek Lap Kok on April 29, a No. 3 alarm at Cross Street, Wan Chai on September 14, claiming three lives and a No. 3 alarm in a Ngau Tau Kok composite building on October 19 resulting in 53 injuries.
. Special Services
The department also provides wide-ranging rescue services in incidents such as traffic accidents, people trapped in lifts or locked in rooms, gas leakages, house collapses, floodings, landslides, industrial accidents and attempts to jump from a height. The department handled 20 813 special emergency service calls in 1998.
Major incidents included the drowning of two persons at a water catchment in Quarry Bay during a rainstorm on June 9 and the leakage of chlorine gas in a Tseung Kwan O factory on August 31, in which 26 people were injured.
Ambulance Services
The demand for emergency ambulance services kept rising in the year. During 1998, ambulances answered 464 248 emergency calls, representing an increase of 5.9 per cent when compared with 1997.
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