Fire_Brigade_1958-1959 — Page 8

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FIRE AND OTHER OCCURRENCES

4. A total of 1,367 calls were received and responded to by the Fire Brigade during the year under review, as against 1,149 for the preceding year. These calls were as follows:

Fires:

Houses ...

Chimneys

Electrical

Cars, etc.

Grass & Shrubbery Ships

Aircraft

Squatter fires

Miscellaneous

False Alarms:

With good intent

Malicious

Special Services:

::

35

47

214

42

228

21

1

33

511

1,132

35

65

100

Landslides, House Collapses, drowning, etc.

Total ...

The estimated monetary loss by fires was $8,106,646.84.

135

1,367

5. The number of serious fires has not been as great as in previous years. I append below brief details of the more notable fires:

22nd April, 1958-SQUATTER FIRE AT KAI TAK NEW VILLAGE

KOWLOON

A fire broke out at 02.22 hours at Kai Tak New Village, Kowloon. The fire, which was a small one, unfortunately resulted in 3 Chinese Children and 2 adults losing their lives. 3 fire appliances, 3 ambulances and 4 other vehicles responded to the call. On the arrival at the scene of the first fire appliance, the officer in charge found the area burning fiercely and only the wooden frames of the huts were still standing. The walls and roofs of the burning huts had been completely destroyed by the fire and had collapsed inwards. The casualties all occurred before the arrival of the first fire appliance. The area of the fire involved only 9 huts, as the fire was quickly brought under control and extinguished in approximately 40 minutes. The hut in which the fire originated was also the one in which the casualties occurred. It had been divided into cubicles to accommodate four families

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