ENG-1996 — Page 383

PUBLIC ORDER

Fire Suppression

Of the 32 855 fire calls received during the year, 39 were classified as major fires of No. 3 alarm and above. Unwanted alarms, caused mainly by faulty automatic alarm systems or their poor positioning, contributed to about 11.4 per cent of the total number of fire calls. Careless handling or disposal of smoking materials was still the major cause of fires, totalling 5 485 cases in all, followed by accidents involving the preparation of foodstuffs and electrical faults, which accounted for 2 750 and 1 628 cases respectively.

Fires claimed 66 lives, one of them a fireman, and 648 injuries, including 37 firemen. Fire personnel rescued 1 860 people. Notable fires during the year included: a vegetation fire at Pat Sin Leng, Tai Po, on February 10, claiming five lives and 13 casualties; a No. 3 alarm at the Whitehead Detention Centre on May 10, in which two fire personnel were threatened by Vietnamese Migrants; a No. 3 alarm squatter fire at Wong Tai Sin on July 3, in which a woman was killed and two firemen injured; a No. 5 alarm fire in a Yau Ma Tei commercial building on November 20, in which 40 people died, including one fireman, while 80 people were injured; and a No. 4 alarm commercial building fire in Causeway Bay on November 22.

Special Services

The department also provides wide-ranging rescue services in incidents such as traffic accidents, people trapped in lifts or locked in rooms, gas leakages, house collapses, floodings, landslides, industrial accidents and attempts to jump from a height. The department handled 21 107 special services calls in 1996.

Major incidents included the collapse of a footbridge in Tseung Kwan O on January 26, in which a trapped driver was killed; and the rescue of collapsed workers inside a ship at a Yau Tong shipyard, in which two of the four workers died on June 13.

Ambulance Services

The demand for emergency ambulance service kept climbing in 1996. During the year, ambulances answered 398 328 emergency calls, representing an increase of 9.4 per cent when compared with 1995.

With the transfer of non-emergency ambulance service to the Hospital Authority, completed in October 1995, non-emergency ambulances service originated from private hospitals, Social Welfare Department and Department of Health will be taken over by the Auxiliary Medical Services in phases. The first phase commenced in April 1996 for cases in Kowloon, and the whole programme is expected to be completed by April 1997.

In all, 33 paramedic ambulances were in service in March 1996. The department carried out a comprehensive review on the provision of paramedic service to map out its future development.

Communication

The department is replacing its existing radio network system with a computer-aided Trunked Radio System. It provides more channels and better communication between Fire Services Communication Centre and all fire appliances, fireboats and

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