68
than 40 feet above the level of the street, with such means of escape in cases of fire as the Building Authority may reasonably require, and any means of escape so provided must be maintained by the owner to the satisfaction of the Building Authority.
The requirements of this section are carried out. When building plans are received, if there are storeys more than 40 feet above the level of the street, the plans are referred to the Chief Officer of the Fire Brigade, who in addition to the fire escape requirements under section 149 of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, advises on further precautions, if any, which-in view of the nature of the building and the use to which it is to be put-should be insisted on, such as rising mains, and, if necessary, force pumps when the pressure would otherwise not be sufficient on the upper floors.
The Sub-Committee considers that, when officers are available, efforts should be made to instruct the staffs of large buildings in the use of the Fire appliances in those buildings. The difficulty is that in most large business blocks there is no permanent staff. The buildings are rented as offices to a large number of firms, and staffs are continually being changed. In buildings such as Banks and Clubs where there are permanent staffs, it has been found possible to give some kind of training in the use of fire appliances.
Outside connections for rising mains should be required where the Chief Officer of the Fire Brigade considers such connections necessary, so that the Fire Brigade engines may be available to increase the pressure of these mains.
It is recommended that the London County Council Regulations should as far as possible be made to apply to all large new buildings in Hongkong and Kowloon. It is not proposed that they be applied to Chinese tenement houses, but large Chinese Stores where a considerable number of the staff sleep on the premises should be made to comply with those regulations as far as they were applicable.
The conditions which are attached to all Fire Service Installations are put up as Appendix "A" to this Report.
It is strongly recommended that a special officer be appointed to deal with the inspection of Fire Installations on new premises and the examination of existing instal- lations.
It is recommended that all shipbuilding yards and oil installations should be required to have private Fire Services.
A reservoir formed by surrounding walls is at present required to be provided around each oil tank, but each tank in some of the installations is not at present separated from the other tanks by a wall. We recommend that this requirement be enforced in these cases.
The oil companies have been asked to provide "Saform" and water sprinkler installations. The Police Department is refusing to issue licences under the Dangerous Goorls Ordinance until these installatious are provided.
The London County Council Regulations governing fire precautions in cinemas aro enforced in the Colony as far as possible. The Hongkong regulations are attached to this Report as Appendix "B".*
In many new Chinese houses, even of recent construction, only one wooden staircase is provided for two houses. This greatly increases the danger in case of fire. The question of wooden staircases in Chinese tenement houses is one which should be seriously considered. The Sub-Committee is informed that most of the lives lost at fires are to be attributed to collapses of wooden staircases. Attempts have been made to introduce concrete staircases: there are some is new houses at Yaumati and in the Taikoo Chinese Quarters at Quarry Bay.
The Sub-Committee recommends that the construction of concrete staircases be encouraged.
* Not printed.