Fire safety in high-rise buildings under the spotlight
Fire safety in high-rise buildings under the spotlight
2025-11-27
The tragic Wang Fuk Court apartment complex fire in Hong Kong once again brought fire safety in high-rise buildings under the spotlight. Here in Taiwan, some may still remember the Eastern Science Park fire back in 2001, which lasted almost four days. An expert says that because of the inherent difficulty in putting out a fire so high up, it’s important to take everyday precautions.
Thick billows of white smoke kept seeping out of this building in Hsinchu when it was engulfed in flames in May 2024. Two firefighters lost their lives. Further back in 2001, there was also a huge fire in the Eastern Science Park in New Taipei’s Xizhi.
The blaze lasted almost four days, or 43 hours to be exact, making for the longest-ever fire in Taiwan. Overseas, the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London, UK lasted two days and killed 72. Like the recent Wang Fuk Court fire in Hong Kong, all of these cases involved high-rise buildings, which makes extinguishing efforts that much more difficult.
Voice of Lin Chin-hung
Fire safety expert
It’s more physically straining for firefighters. There are also fewer vehicles suitable for putting out high-rise fires. It’s crucial that fire safety equipment in the buildings functions properly.
Height is a major obstacle in firefighting, requiring ladder trucks that may still fall short. Taiwan currently has three of its largest ladder trucks, stationed in Taipei, New Taipei and Kaohsiung, respectively. They could reach up to 72m in height, or around 23 stories tall. Any higher, firefighters must enter the building in person. This brings to mind the Taipei 101. What if the tallest building in the country were to catch fire?
The Taipei 101 has a fire shelter room every nine floors. With two-layered airtight doors, they offer extra time for survival. At the same time, each floor has exhaust fans that could be triggered in a fire, to draw out smoke. Additionally, air pumps would also be activated in escape routes to increase air pressure. But what if the fire were to start on the exterior, as it did at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex?
Voice of Lin Chin-hung
Fire safety expert
It’s not enough to block out the smoke in the corridors. You may also have to try block out the smoke entering from the windows. That will then depend on the routine precautions you’ve taken. If you haven’t taken any precaution, there’s not much you can do.
The fire safety expert says it all boils down to being well-prepared for the worst, in order to prevent a high-rise fire.
For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53
#hongkong #fire #hongkongfire #firesafety #awareness #safety #insurance
高樓層大火難救 2001年汐止東科大火"狂燒43小時"
2025-11-27
香港宏福苑的嚴重大火，讓高樓層救火難度的議題，再度浮上檯面，在台灣，2024年在新竹發生的晴空匯火警，造成兩名消防員殉職；2001年新北汐止東方科學園區大火，燒了43小時才撲滅，創台灣火警史上延燒時間最長紀錄，這幾起火警的共通點都是 "高樓層"，高樓救災也成為消防最危險的任務！
濃濃白煙不斷從大樓竄出，2024年5月，發生在新竹的火警，造成兩名消防弟兄殉職！還有2001年5月，在新北汐止的東方科學園區大樓火警。
當時燒了整整43小時才撲滅，創下台灣火警史上延燒時間最長紀錄。而國外，2017年6月英國倫敦格蘭菲塔火警，燒了整整兩天才撲滅，造成72人死亡。這幾起重大火警都有共通點"高樓層"，與這回香港的宏福苑大火一樣，消防人員救援難度超高。
[[聲源:消防專家 林金宏]]
“消防救災的人力上面，體力會產生比較大的負擔，高空救災的車輛是比較少的，(要看)它(大樓)內部的消防設備，是不是能發揮它正常的功用”
高樓層火警救災，首要克服就是"高度"，這時候只能派遣雲梯車。目前台灣最高雲梯車"火鳳凰"一共有三台，分別在雙北及高雄，最高能伸展72公尺23層樓高，雲梯車有極限，主要還是得靠消防人員挺進，那萬一哪天台北101發生火警那該怎麼辦？
101大樓每九層樓就會設置"避難室"，獨立雙層門空間爭取搶救時間，同時每層樓抽風扇開始啟動抽走大樓內煙霧，逃生路線也會送氣加壓。但如果火像香港宏福苑大火一樣，"由外往內燒"那該怎麼逃生？
[[聲源:消防專家 林金宏]]
“不只是要去堵走道的煙，你可能連窗戶要蔓延進來的煙，都要設法去阻止它(進來) ，所以這就涉及到你事前的準備，事前沒有做一些準備的話，你可能沒辦法做什麼”
消防專家坦言，沒做足事前準備，高樓層發生火警逃生很困難，只能看大家平時的防災意識。
更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00
Related News
