A fire safety contractor for the Tai Po housing estate ravaged by a massive blaze was aware that the alarm system had been disabled days before the tragedy unfolded, a public inquiry has heard. Wong Kin-wa, a senior electrical worker at Victory Fire Engineering, testifies at a public hearing into the massive Tai Po fire on March 30, 2026. Photo: Hans Tse/HKFP. The inquiry heard on Monday that Victory Fire Engineering, a fire safety contractor for Wang Fuk Court, had learned that the alarms at the housing estate were turned off during replacement work on defective equipment on November 19.
A week later, on November 26, a blaze broke out, engulfing seven of eight blocks at the Tai Po housing estate and killing 168 people. Authorities identified disabled fire alarms as a factor that contributed to the high death toll.
Wong Kin-wa, a senior electrical worker at Victory Fire, testified on Monday that his junior colleague discovered that the master switch of Wang Fuk Court’s fire safety system, which affected both the alarms and the fire hoses, had been turned off.
Victory Fire had been responsible for the Tai Po housing estate’s annual fire safety equipment checks since 2016, except for 2024, the inquiry heard. The firm last performed an annual inspection at Wang Fuk Court in March last year. See also: ‘I regret I hadn’t knocked on a single door’: 3 Tai Po fire survivors recount escapes amid silent fire alarms Wong said he inspected the housing estate on November 19 and discovered the water pump at three blocks had been disabled after the master switch was switched off.
He said that, concerned about a potential fire hazard, he contacted an ISS EastPoint Properties staff member surnamed Cheng. At that time, the housing estate was managed by ISS.
Wong said Cheng told him that another fire safety contractor, China Status Development and Engineering, had turned off the master switch due to a major renovation at the estate and that the Fire Services Department had been informed via a “shutdown notice.”
Wong said he requested that Cheng produce a copy of the notice, but the ISS staff member “could not find it.”
He also did not reach out to China Status to inquire about when and why the master switch was turned off. Senior Counsel Jenkin Suen, a lawyer for the government, attends a public hearing into the deadly Tai Po fire on March 26, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Asked by government counsel Jenkin Suen about his inaction, Wong said he had not thought of contacting China Status on the matter.
“I thought because they were also a fire safety contractor, they knew what they had disabled,” he said in Cantonese.
16 extensions
Wong, who was at Wang Fuk Court on November 19 to replace defective fire safety equipment, also admitted he did not test the newly installed equipment due to the lack of power.
“Would you agree that your duty had not been completed?” Lee Shu-wun, a lawyer for the independent committee, asked. Following a brief pause, Wong said he agreed. Chung Kit-man (centre), a director and engineer at Victory Fire Engineering, testifies at a public hearing into the massive Tai Po fire on March 30, 2026. Photo: Hans Tse/HKFP. But he said he could not have filed a notice to the FSD for China Status, as he did not know when the master switch was turned off.
“A shutdown notice requires you to file the shutdown date, which we did not know,” he said.
Lawyers for ISS challenged Wong’s testimony, saying he did not request Cheng to produce the notice. Cheng is expected to testify at a later date.
Victor Dawes, lead lawyer for the committee, previously said on March 20 that China Status first filed a shutdown notice to the FSD in April last year and had since applied for 16 extensions.
At the time of the fire, the fire alarm system at Wang Fuk Court remained disabled.
Also testifying on Monday, Chung Kit-man, a director and engineer at Victory Fire, said China Status did not inform him about the shutdown of Wang Fuk Court’s fire safety system.
Chung is set to continue his testimony on Tuesday.