16. Between 12.45 hours on 6th April 1966 and 23.59 hours on the last day of the emergency i.e. 12th April 1966 the Service was called upon to deal with 35 fires attributable to demonstrators, of which only one was serious, i.e. the 4th alarm at Shaws' Building which is briefly reported on in the section on fires of special interest. At or en-route to fires during the demonstrations personnel were subjected to stoning by demonstrators, and in the avoidance of provoking or encouraging further damage or injuries 19 small fires which neither threatened lives nor adjacent property were allowed to burn themselves out, and no Fire Service attendance was afforded to them.
17. Notwithstanding the Service was not over-extended, the disturb- ances did reveal several obsolete features in fire defence planning and vulnerability of fire appliances during public disturbances. In conse- quence, a new and comprehensive emergency defence scheme has been drawn up and can be rapidly implemented should the need arise in the future.
Rainstorms-June 1966
18.
Between 00.01 hours and 12.00 hours on 12th June 1966, 13.3 inches of rain fell on the Colony, 9.04 inches falling between 06.00 hours and 09.00 hours, and at one stage the rainfall reached a maximum of 4.3 inches per hour.
19. The rains brought wide spread serious flooding, collapses of highways, buildings and landslides and the wholesale disruption of communications. Hundreds of persons were placed in peril.
20. By 07.35 hours 12th April 1966 virtually all public telephone systems were out of commission, and Harcourt Road Fire Station which houses the main search and rescue units of the Service, Hong Kong Island Fire Control and the Director of Fire Services' Command Post was submerged in water to a depth varying between 3 feet and 6 feet. Communications, mobilizing equipment and records in the Fire Control and Command Post were severely damaged and/or swept away by the flood waters.
21. A temporary Fire Control and a temporary Command Post were established at Fire Service Headquarters, and all search and rescue units from Harcourt Road were reassembled there. Improvised com- munication systems utilizing field telephones and mobile radio vans were set up and were in full operation by 13.05 hours 12th April 1966.
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