Reduced workload for firemen in the first 9 months of 2023

During the first nine months of this year from January to September, the Fire Services Bureau (CB) reported a decline in the number of cases requiring their intervention, according to a recent statistical release.

Overall, the number of cases in which the CB was called to deploy staff and resources to attend emergencies has dropped from 40,518 cases in 2022 to 38,939 cases (-3.9%) this year.

This drop is largely attributable to the fact that CB has not been deploying as many resources to attend to Covid-19-related cases compared to last year.

Consequently, the number of ambulance deployments dropped by 15.14% (34,286) compared with the same period in 2022 (40,404).

Despite the drop in the total number of medical emergencies, the number of ambulances deployed for issues such as breathing difficulties, dizziness, abdominal pain, fever and palpitations accounted for 18,545 cases, representing 57.97% of the total number of ambulances deployed. The CB noted that most of these cases did not warrant an ambulance call.

Rescue operations for severe traffic accidents or evacuations during severe flooding also reduced, with a total of 1,388 cases in the first three quarters (-5.71%).

The only category that increased was the number of fires, which saw a slight increase (+1.61%) mostly due to the improper disposal of cigarettes and the careless burning of candles, incense, or joss paper.

Although the number of cases of burned food and incidents related to mishandling of kitchen appliances have also dropped, the CB said that the number of cases (123) is still very high, with an average of almost 14 cases per month or nearly one every two days.

The CB noted that the cases of mishandling of kitchen appliances, as well as the improper disposal of cigarettes, and the burning of joss papers and incense accounted for 58.77% of all cases of fire station vehicle dispatches. These cases were also often accompanied by significant property damage.

The CB also said that one of their priorities for the next few months is to raise awareness on the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning, which often results from the illegal and inappropriate installation of gas water heaters inside bathrooms and without proper ventilation.