FSD officer testifies at hearing that late firefighter Ho did not hand in ID before entering fire scene
發佈日期: 2026-04-24 00:15
TVB News
A Fire Services Department senior officer said the late firefighter Ho Wai-ho didn't hand in his identification tool before entering the fire scene. The public hearing continued at Central City Gallery.
Under the guidance of Victor Dawes, the committee's senior counsel, Tung Wing-kei, a FSD divisional officer who handles breathing apparatus, first testified.
Dawes mentioned the damages on the gas cylinder valve and its connected handwheel of late firefighter, Ho Wai-ho, which Tung described it as "very rare."
The FSD officer explained that the gas cylinder valve was made of metal, and suspected that the damage was caused when Ho tried to escape and dropped the equipment.
But Tung said such a situation would also be uncommon because the cylinder top was protected by a plastic layer. Dawes said that the FSD had failed to locate Ho's position in the blaze.
Tung said a personal transmitter key and a tag, which were used to help identify firefighters' positions, remained attached to Ho's apparatus, meaning the deceased firefighter hadn't passed through the entry command point to hand in his tag before entering the fire scene.
Derek Chan, the FSD's deputy director of operations, told the committee that the department had deployed sufficient manpower to the fire scene.
By the time that Chan had raised the fire to level five,he said the resources deployed were 6 times more than what's required for a level 5 fire usually.
Asked if the FSD should've applied the emergency alert system, allowing authorities to warn the public through mobile messages, Chan said it would take about an hour for the text to be delivered.
He also said confusion could result among trapped residents because not enough public education had been made on the system.
Chan said authorities need to strengthen public education when it comes to the application of the system in the future.
