Thomas Cheung, a 30-year-old firefighter, has died after fighting a fourth-alarm fire in Ngau Tau Kok yesterday. At the time of writing, the fire has still not been put out since igniting approximately 24.5 hours ago.
The HKU graduate is survived by his wife and four-month-old child. Cheung, who was a senior station officer, was found unconscious in a stairwell after losing contact with teammates for about half an hour.
The 30-year-old was confirmed dead at 9:54pm, Apple Daily reports.
Four of Cheung’s colleagues were hospitalised for smoke inhalation and dehydration, and are all reported to be in stable condition.
The blaze, which began late yesterday morning, is now contained to the third floor of Amoycan Industrial Centre, where it ignited. The building is 66 years old and was not fitted with a sprinkler system, which is not required for older buildings under current regulations, reports SCMP.
Reports of a fire at a mini storage unit in the building were made at 10:59am.
It was classed a third-alarm fire at 12:14pm, and upgraded to a fourth-alarm fire at 7:46pm. Five is the highest grade of seriousness for a fire in Hong Kong.
Six water jets were used to fight the blaze, while 12 breathing apparatus teams were sent into the building.
Water was also sprayed into the building from two aerial ladders, Poon Wai-lun, deputy chief officer (Kowloon) of the Fire Services Department told reporters.
The subdivided storage unit where the fire started was one of over 200 cubicles rented out by SC Storage at their 2,400-square-metre facility on the third floor of Amoycan Industrial Centre.
According to Poon, each cubicle was individually locked and had to be broken into by firefighters before being hosed.
Around 200 of SC Storage’s clients, who stored items in the facility, have formed a group of “victims” on Facebook to demand compensation from the company.
Under their leases, the items they kept in the facility are not protected by fire insurance, but SC Storage founder Kevin Shee said he was considering compensating their losses after receiving legal counsel.
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