5. There was an emergency salvage call to the M.V. "Ping On" which arrived in port in a sinking condition, having sprung a leak on the voyage to Hong Kong. The Fire Boat pumped the water out of the holds while the cargo was hurriedly unloaded; arrangements made for a private salvage company to take over the vessel.
6.
FALSE ALARMS
Considering the total number of calls received, the incidence of false alarms was not high and 57% were given with good intent.
7.
Most malicious false alarms are given by persons who have a general disregard for the public interest and who have no scruples about the abuse of a public service. Although punishments are provided by law, wrong doers of this nature are not easy to locate. The remedy is a higher sense of public responsibility together with heavier penalties for this offence.
CAUSES OF FIRES
8. By far the most common cause of fire was negligence or carelessness such as dirty chimneys, the use of soldering irons near to inflammable materials, the careless use or storage of industrial chemicals and the grinding of aluminium OF magnesium under unsuitable conditions.
0. Faulty electric wiring caused a large number of electrical fires.
10. There was one known case of arson.
CASUALTIES
11. 11 persons lost their lives at fires before the arrival of the Fire Brigade, a decrease of 9 as against the number during 1950-1951. No person was reported missing. Brigade rescued 19 persons from burning buildings.
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