Fire_Brigade_1956-1957 — Page 7

MARINE DEPARTMENT LIBRARY

FIRE AND OTHER OCCURRENCES

A TOTAL of 1,086 calls were received and responded to by the Fire Brigade during the year under review as against 1,117 Classifications of these calls are as

for the preceding year.

follows:-

Fires:

Buildings

Electrical

315

134

Chimneys

57

Motor Vehicles

30

Grass & Shrubbery

161

Ships

19

Squatter areas

20

Riots

24

Aircraft

1

Small fires

117

Miscellaneous

58

936

False Alarms:

With good intent

Malicious

22222223

13

35

Special Services:

Landslides, House Collapses, Drowning,

etc.

115

116

Total

1,086

&

The estimate of monetary loss by fires was $6,445,486.48. A graph showing the number of fire calls attended and estimated monetary losses by fire from 1st April, 1956 to 31st March, 1957 appears in Appendix I.

2. The number of serious fires showed a decrease; details of the more notable ones are appended below:

2nd August, 1956-

A fire broke out at Tai Hang Road squatter area on 2nd August, 1956, and about 120 squatter huts were destroyed. In accordance with the Brigade's predeter- mined plan for this squatter area fire appliances took up strategic positions on arrival and connected direct to fire hydrants. In the early stages of the fire the forward positions in the pre-arranged plan were difficult to maintain due to the low water pressure,

1