Fire_Brigade_1957-1958 — Page 7

FIRE AND OTHER OCCURRENCES

A TOTAL of 1,149 calls were received and responded to by the Fire Brigade during the year under review as against 1,086 for the preceding year. Classifications of these calls are as follows:

Fires:

Buildings

81

Chimneys

Electrical

Grass & Shrubbery

Miscellaneous

Motor Vehicles

Ships

Small fires

43

198

112

13

26

13

374

Squatter fires

30

890

False Alarms:

With good intent

37

Malicious

65

102

Special Services:

Landslides, house collapses, drowning, etc.

157

157

Total

1,149

+

The estimate of monetary loss by fires was $929,106.42. A graph showing the number of fire calls attended and estimated monetary losses by fire from 1st April, 1957 to 31st March, 1958, appears in Appendix I.

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

4th April, 1957-

A fire broke out on the 2nd floor of No. 164, Shaukiwan Main Street, West, Hong Kong, at 10.59 hours on 4th April, 1957. All adults on the second floor were absent at work leaving infant children locked in the room. The fire was brought under control at 11.08 hours. During the inspection of the building to ascertain the cause of the fire bodies of three Chinese female infants were found in the debris.

16th May, 1957–

A fire broke out in Shek Kip Mei Village Squatter Area, Kowloon, at 17.53 hours on 16th May, 1957. Sixty wooden huts

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