Police Can't Have Our Staff Or Vehicles: Fire Chiefs

The Fire Services Department (FSD) says no firefighters can be spared to work as “special constables” to help the police deal with anti-government protests, and the department's vehicles won't be handed over to the force either.

This comes after the Sing Tao Daily reported earlier this month that the government is studying whether volunteers from other disciplinary forces, such as the Fire Services, Immigration, Customs and Excise, and Correctional Services departments, can be appointed “special constables” to beef up the police’s manpower.

Deputy chief fire officer Derek Chan said on Thursday that firefighters will not work under the police as they have too much to deal with themselves.

He added that their vehicles and ambulances will not be loaned to the police for their operations.

“We do not have the spare resources. We have been stretched to our limits in handling the situation in public order events. Secondly, letting police use our vehicles for decoy or dispersal operations will seriously affect our delivery of emergency services,” Chan said.

“Police understand our situation so they won’t make such requests. So it won’t happen,” he said.

Chan did add that the police had borrowed two "general-purpose" minibuses from the department. But he said the minibuses had been stripped of all FSD logos so there was no chance they could be used to fool protesters into thinking the occupants were firefighters.

Meanwhile, the department urged protesters not to hinder firefighters and paramedics from doing their jobs.

It said it recorded 13 cases in Kowloon on Sunday where protesters obstructed fire engines from going to incidents.

The FSD said some protesters even tried to search their vehicles and in one case, paramedics were prevented from properly treating an injured man in Mong Kok.