Hong Kong firefighters battled a fire for nearly nine hours last week in the 15-story Wing Chai Industrial Building, which houses an Apple Storage self-storage facility on the fourth floor. The fire broke out on the ninth floor about 10:15 p.m. on Tuesday, apparently from paper and plastic material. Responders extinguished the blaze by 7 a.m. on Wednesday. No injuries were reported.
Three water jets and four breathing-apparatus teams were dispatched to the three-alarm fire. Officials estimated about 10 people made their way to safety from inside the building. No damage to the self-storage business was reported.
Opened in 1969, the building is one of hundreds in the city built before 1973 that were not subject to fire requirements, according to the source. Industrial buildings and self-storage businesses have fallen under government scrutiny after two devastating fires killed two firefighters in 2016.
Investigations brought fire and safety violations against 764 Hong Kong self-storage facilities from the Fire Services and Buildings Departments. Storage operators and the Self Storage Association Asia have been working with officials on coming up with reasonable regulations and oversight.
Hong Kong Security Chief John Lee Ka-chiu indicated last November that the government intended to draft a bill this year to improve fire-safety equipment in industrial buildings constructed before 1987, according to the source.
Source:
South China Morning Post, Hong Kong Firefighters Put Out Early Morning Third-Alarm Blaze at Old Industrial Building
