Fatal fire prompts calls for smoke detectors in substandard Hong Kong buildings

The owners of old Hong Kong buildings applying for fire safety subsidies should install smoke detectors as a temporary measure, observers have said, following a deadly blaze at a site with substandard facilities.

The call came on Monday, after the death of a tenant in a subdivided flat during a blaze at the Mido Apartments building on King’s Road in North Point on Saturday. Firefighters found a “badly burnt” electrical meter in his home.

Lawmaker Edward Leung Hei, who represents the Hong Kong Island East constituency, said that, to his understanding, the building’s fire doors, windows and fire-resistant panels were all substandard.

He explained that the building had applied to the Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme, under which authorities offer to subsidise up to 60 per cent of the cost of making fire safety improvements and any related consultancy fees.

But such works had not yet progressed because the owners’ corporation was still in the process of deciding on key details, such as which contractor to appoint, the legislator said.

“The government could step up patrols and request fire safety improvements [on subdivided flats] at their entrances and corridors, including installing smoke detectors to protect tenants,” he told a radio programme.

Leung added that these measures could be implemented before the completion of other fire safety improvement works.