Following is a question by the Hon Ken Wong and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, in the Legislative Council today (October 21):
Question:
There are views pointing out that extreme weather events have occurred with increasing frequency in Hong Kong in recent years, and the electrical load in aged buildings has surged, further elevating the risks of short circuits and fire hazards, particularly in old districts such as Kowloon City, Sham Shui Po and Yau Tsim Mong. These districts not only have a large number of “three-nil buildings” and subdivided units (SDUs), but are also home to many singleton elderly persons and disadvantaged groups, who face very significant fire risks. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of times the Fire Services Department, together with the District Offices and Community Care Teams in various districts, has carried out the “Old Friends” Home Visit Scheme in the past year; whether the authorities will regularly deploy staff to conduct home visits to assist disadvantaged groups in old districts in formulating dedicated household escape plans; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) of the average participation rates of residents in fire drills conducted in public housing estates (with a tabulated breakdown) in the past three years; whether the authorities will introduce mechanisms or incentives to encourage more residents to participate in fire drills; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) whether the authorities will consider commissioning qualified research institutions to regularly analyse fire incidents, risk levels and fire drill needs in various districts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4) given that SDUs are structurally complex with narrow corridors, which impede residents’ escape, whether the authorities will formulate dedicated fire contingency response and escape guidelines for tenants of SDUs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5) whether the authorities will establish an inter-departmental district fire prevention and emergency data platform to identify the compounding risks of community fire hazards and extreme weather, and to support district fire drills, community evacuation arrangements and resource allocation for disadvantaged residents; if so, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government attaches great importance to fire safety and public fire prevention education. The Fire Services Department (FSD) promotes a “community-based” public safety strategy and actively applies innovative technology. Together with various government departments and district organisations, it continues to enhance community fire prevention awareness and response capabilities through various means, including home visits, fire prevention publicity, fire drills and risk analysis, etc.
Having consulted the Labour and Welfare Bureau, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, the Housing Bureau and the Development Bureau, our reply to the Hon Wong’s question is as follows:
(1) The FSD launched the “Home Fire Safety Visit Pilot Scheme” in April 2024. Under the scheme, the FSD conducted door-to-door assessments of fire risks in the homes of elderly persons, explained fire prevention knowledge, provided escape advice having regard to the layout of individual units and the physical condition of the occupants, and distributed disaster and emergency preparedness kits. As the pilot scheme was well received, the FSD regularised the scheme in April 2025 and renamed it the “Old Friends” Home Visit Scheme. In collaboration with District Fire Safety Committees, District Care Teams and other district organisations, the FSD conducts home visits under the scheme. The scope of service has also been extended from covering elderly households in public rental housing (public housing) in Kowloon during the pilot period to elderly households in public housing estates and other buildings across Hong Kong. From April 2024 to August 31, 2026, the FSD conducted a total of 1 610 home visits. The breakdown by year is as follows:
| Year |
Number of home visits |
| 2024 (from April 1) |
108 times |
| 2025 |
493 times |
| 2026 (as at August 31) |
1 009 times |
(2) The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) attaches great importance to fire safety in its public housing estates. The HKHA stipulates that a fire drill must be conducted at least once every two years in each of its public housing estate, with additional drills arranged as necessary to familiarise residents and frontline staff with escape routes and evacuation procedures. The HKHA also, in collaboration with the FSD, organises fire prevention talks and arranges publicity activities including visits by the Fire Safety Education Bus.
Considering that some residents may be away from home during the drills due to various personal reasons, the number of residents participating in the fire drills is subject to the period of the drills and the circumstances on the day. The HKHA does not keep consolidated statistics on the average participation rate by all residents who live in public housing estates in Hong Kong for the past three years. In order to encourage residents’ participation in the drills, the HKHA posts notices in the relevant buildings prior to each drill and distributes souvenirs to participating residents as an incentive. The HKHA will sustain its effort in promoting fire prevention on a regular basis by widely sharing information about fire safety and home fire prevention through posters, leaflets, and social media platforms.
(3) The FSD has always been utilising data analysis and scientific methods to assess fire risks in each district of Hong Kong. From 2022 to 2024, the FSD and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) collaborated in carrying out an in-depth analysis of fire safety risks in buildings of each district by formulating a risk matrix with the use of big data and artificial intelligence (AI), with a view to providing a scientific basis for formulating firefighting and rescue strategies. The FSD and PolyU commenced a new round of study in March this year to incorporate a wider range of big data and AI models for a more precise assessment of fire risks in each district.
In addition, the FSD and the Census and Statistics Department collaborated this year in combining operation and fire prevention related data with local population and other government data to conduct risk analysis from multiple dimensions, thereby facilitating the FSD’s implementation of risk‑based fire prevention inspection.
The FSD has utilised the findings of the aforementioned analysis, past fire records and inspection records, etc, to assign risk levels to old buildings and create a set of “risk maps”. This will assist the FSD in formulating more targeted “district-specific fire safety policies”. The four “Divisional Public Safety Teams” set up in Hong Kong Island Command, Kowloon Command and New Territories South Command will conduct targeted inspections, formulate and arrange fire drills and implement fire prevention publicity as well as disaster and emergency preparedness activities in accordance with the policies of their commands.
(4) The Government attaches great importance to the fire safety of subdivided units (SDUs) and the buildings in which they are located, and adopts a two-pronged approach covering regulation and the enhancement of residents’ fire prevention awareness and escape capability.
To eradicate the issue of substandard SDUs in an orderly manner, the Basic Housing Unit (BHU) regime has been rolled out starting from March this year under the principle of “registration first, enforcement later”. The Basic Housing Units Ordinance (Cap. 658) requires that SDUs in flats for domestic use (residential flats) must comply with a set of minimum standards of living conditions (including fire safety requirements) and obtain BHU recognition before they can be legally let out for habitation in the future, so as to ensure the provision of safe, hygienic and reasonable living environments in SDUs. The new regime provides a 48-month transitional arrangement, i.e. a 12-month registration period followed by a 36-month grace period for pre-existing SDUs that have successfully registered, to allow reasonable time for relevant owners/operators to gradually adapt to the requirements and to submit applications for BHU recognition.
With respect to fire safety, the new regime requires an SDU and the residential flat where the SDU is located to comply with the existing fire safety requirements under the Buildings Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation (note 1), and SDUs must be designed and constructed to prevent spread of smoke (note 2). In addition, the requirements on the clear width of the internal corridor to SDUs must be fulfilled. Each SDU must also be equipped with stand-alone fire detectors, and fire extinguishers and stand-alone fire detectors must be installed in the shared part (if any) of the residential flat where an SDU is located. The aforementioned requirements are specified in the Code of Practice on Minimum Standards of Living Conditions for Basic Housing Units issued by the Housing Bureau. If building irregularities are found in SDUs, such as inadequate width of the means of escape route, the formation of openings on staircases affecting fire resisting construction or the addition of partitions obstructing the means of escape, the Buildings Department will issue removal orders to the owners concerned in accordance with the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123).
Besides, through its “community-based” public safety strategy, the FSD enhances the emergency preparedness of households. In higher-risk districts, the FSD collaborated with district organisations to organise fire prevention activities and fire drills, and promotes fire prevention and fire escape knowledge to residents of three-nil buildings and subdivided units, including, for example, bringing along the three useful items for fire escape (i.e. keys, mobile phone and wet towel), distributing disaster and emergency preparedness kits (including fire extinguishers, stand-alone fire detectors and smoke hoods), and teaching the use of smoke hoods.
(5) The Government has always adhered to the principle of “early planning and early intervention” in responding to emergencies such as fires and extreme weather, and has established a comprehensive emergency response mechanism. The Security Bureau co-ordinates the Government’s Emergency Response System and regularly reviews response plans such as the Contingency Plan for Natural Disasters, which set out the responsibilities and co-ordination arrangements of each policy bureau and department. Before the arrival of extreme weather, the Government will convene inter-departmental meetings to steer departments in making thorough disaster preparedness and resource deployment. The Security Bureau’s Emergency Monitoring and Support Centre (EMSC) will be activated as necessary to monitor and co-ordinate cross-departmental response and support work on a round-the-clock basis.
The Home Affairs Department (HAD) will open temporary shelters/temporary cold shelters/temporary heat shelters in response to situations such as typhoons, cold weather or very hot weather as appropriate. Where an emergency such as a fire requires the evacuation of residents, the FSD and the Police will direct the evacuation on site. The HAD will also open temporary shelters as necessary to accommodate affected residents, and will, together with departments such as the Social Welfare Department (SWD), provide emergency relief supplies and social worker follow-up services; the Housing Department will also arrange temporary accommodation as necessary for affected persons who are left homeless.
In respect of supporting vulnerable households, the Care Teams will, before and after the arrival of extreme weather such as typhoons, proactively contact or visit households in need such as singleton and doubleton elderly persons, remind them to make disaster preparedness arrangements, and assist them in going to temporary shelters or make referrals for follow-up as necessary; the SWD and its subvented service units will also contact service users in need and provide support.
To enhance city management and strengthen emergency response capabilities, the Government had announced in the Chief Executive’s 2026 Policy Address that we will examine and set up an “AI City Brain” integrated city management system that links up relevant big data of departments with city governance matters such as works, environment, transportation and emergency response, to create a data-sharing environment for multi-directional empowerment. In the first phase, the Security Bureau’s EMSC will be the “foundation”, with priority given to connecting the digital infrastructure of the relevant departments to the aforementioned system, so as to disseminate, through AI analysis, information such as risk alerts and trend forecasts, thereby enhancing cross-departmental capability in responding to emergencies such as extreme weather and fires.
The Government expects to complete the basic development of the “AI City Brain” in Q2 2027 and launch the adverse weather themed operational interface at the Security Bureau’s EMSC before the typhoon season in July 2027. The development of the first phase of the “AI City Brain” is expected to be completed in Q1 2028 to support a wider range of operations.
The FSD also utilises big data analytics to support management and decision making. In 2021, the FSD launched the Intelligence Dashboard Platform and the Geographic Information System Portal. The former consolidates the FSD and inter-departmental data and presents the data through a unified visualisation interface, analysing the correlations and trends among operational data to provide a basis for the risk-level assessment of the “risk map”. The latter integrates real-time incident data with geospatial information, displaying locations and details of incidents synchronously on digital maps. The platform may also interface with the database of the Hong Kong Observatory to dynamically forecast and show flooding risks of various districts, giving command officers real-time monitoring of conditions across different districts.
At the same time, the FSD will continue to use the above platforms to analyse risks in each district and update the “risk map”, so as to formulate operational plans and deploy resources precisely during emergencies or extreme weather, and to carry out targeted emergency education and support work in its daily operations.
Note 1: Including the requirements that relevant residential flat must be provided with access to two or more exit staircases; the clear headroom of exit routes must be not less than 2m; the residential flat must be separated from the exit routes/exit staircases of the building by fire-rated partition walls, etc.
Note 2: Including compliance with fire/smoke resisting properties of partition walls and entrance doors of each SDUs, etc.
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