A director of a fire safety contractor in Hong Kong has defended his firm’s failure to act despite knowing that alarms in Wang Fuk Court were disabled a week before a massive fire killed 168 people.
Chung Kit-man, director and engineer at Victory Fire Engineering, continued his testimony on Tuesday before an independent committee tasked with investigating the fatal fire that broke out on Nov. 26.
Victory Fire was one of two fire safety contractors for Wang Fuk Court at the time of the fire, along with China Status Development and Engineering.
COMMITTEE heard before that China Status disabled Wang Fuk Court’s fire safety system in April last year for repairs to the rooftop water tanks and has since applied to the Fire Services Department (FSD) for 16 extensions. At the time of the fire, the property’s fire alarms remained deactivated.
On Nov. 19, a week before the fire, Victory Fire discovered the main switch had been turned off, affecting both alarms and fire hoses. Chung told the committee on Monday that he had never been informed by China Status of the shutdown.
‘Don’t tell others how to do their jobs’
Lee Shu-wun, a lawyer for the committee, drew attention on Tuesday to Victory Fire’s annual inspections of fire equipment carried out at Wang Fuk Court in March last year. Checklists from that inspection showed that the rooftop water tanks did not meet the required water levels and were not being filled.
However, a certificate signed by Chung does not list the tanks as damaged.
Chung told the committee he “overlooked” the checklists and claimed no defects were found with the tanks during annual inspections in March.
Seven months later, in October, Victory Fire returned to Wang Fuk Court to replace faulty fire safety equipment. At that time, the firm’s workers learned that the water tanks had been emptied due to repair work, according to statements made to the police after the fire.
Chung said that, at the time, he already knew that the water pumps – which fill the roof tanks – were disabled. He said a staff member from property management firm ISS EastPoint Properties told him FSD had been notified through a “closing notice”.
Chung also said he instructed his staff to inform the ISS about the disabled master key and asked to see official notices on November 19, but did not follow up on the matter.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Chung was challenged by ISS lawyer Richard Khaw on why he did not do more to address the disabled systems. Chung said it was not his responsibility.
“I think I may have been influenced by a mentality deeply ingrained in this trade: Don’t tell others how to do their job,” he said in Cantonese. “Even though I sensed a problem, I could only remember them.”
He said he was “saddened” on the day of the fire but was not concerned about personal liability. “I didn’t really shut down the system, so I was more concerned that management didn’t follow the procedure,” he said.
“Trust their professionalism”
Also testifying Tuesday was Lok Sin-ying, an ISS official in charge of handling residents’ complaints during a renovation project at the property, which began in 2024.
Evidence showed that, in July, the main renovation contractor, Prestige Construction & Engineering, requested that ISS send workers to drain the water tanks. Lok submitted a work order for two construction workers to the ISS to address the issue.
One of those workers, Law Kwok-shui, told police he was reluctant to comply with the order because fire equipment should only be handled by certified professionals. Law claimed that he only drained the tanks after Lok told him to comply with the contractor’s request.
Lok disagreed with the account on Tuesday, denying that she had given such an order. She added that if workers had any hesitation, they should consult with senior management.
She also said she was aware of the extended shutdown of the property’s fire safety system by China Status, but added that the matter was beyond her knowledge.
“I trusted their professionalism and I personally wouldn’t challenge them on (fire safety),” she said.
Lok will continue her testimony on Wednesday.
