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Smoke Detector ?

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  1. #1

    Smoke Detector ?

    Realized that none of my flats have ever had smoke detectors. All other places I lived before HK always had this, as it's a fairly good way to sound alarms when no one notices the fire starting.

    Any reason why there is no smoke detectors in all flats or common hallways?

    And... now that I think about it...I don't recall seeing manual fire alarm switches anywhere. But perhaps i missed this.

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  2. #2

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    You can always buy your own smoke alarms and install them yourself. I bought mine at a store in Wan Chai that sells all sorts of safety gear.

    Our building has a fire alarm that malfunctions so often the first instinct to an alarm going off is no longer "GTFO now", but "Oh, there it goes again". Defeats the whole point of having it.


  3. #3

    i know i can buy my own, but i just thought it was interesting there was no law's requiring such things. i know HK is not USA, but.... isnt HK USA?


  4. #4

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    I think Tigersun has the answer - too much incense burning setting them off all the time. When we moved here, I started a thread asking where to purchase a smoke alarm - ended up buying them in Australia and bringing in on a trip because the ones I found in HK were about 10x the price! Then I found them in B&Q here, but as we know, it's now gone.

    Yes, like you, I am incredulous that this is not a legal requirement as it is in other countries. PARTICULARLY for rented properties. In the UK for example, I would be in deep do-do if my place that I rent out did not have them!

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  5. #5

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    Original Post Deleted
    Joking aside, more modern buildings with good enough management and security guards actually don't allow this, not even incense burning. Just last week where I live there was smoke from probably someone burning crap in the stairwell. I called the management company; the security guards came and couldn't find the perp. They aired it out through the fire escape to the roof. Nobody called the cops or the fire department; I guess this happens too often.
    Last edited by ClueMinus; 10-05-2012 at 04:35 PM. Reason: fixed typos
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  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by ClueMinus:
    Joking aside, more modern buildings with good enough management and security guards actually don't allow this, not even incense burning. Just last week where I live there was smoke from probably someone burning crap in the stairwell. I called the management company; the security guards came and couldn't find the perp. They aired it out through the fire escape to the roof. Nobody called the cops or the fire department; I guess this happens too often.
    They don't allow it but it still happens, as it did in your case.

    If you were the only non-local who was affected by the superstitious/ritual/whatever burning, you were probably the only one to complain. The guard, whatever he may have said to you and however big the smile/friendly face he gives/gave you, almost certainly sympathizes more with whomever started the fire and just put a stop to it because, once it was brought to his attention, he had to do so in order to cover his own behind. Any attempt to "investigate" and find the responsible party was a matter of going through the motions as halfheartedly as possible to mollify you.
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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by ClueMinus:
    Joking aside, more modern buildings with good enough management and security guards actually don't allow this, not even incense burning. Just last week where I live there was smoke from probably someone burning crap in the stairwell. I called the management company; the security guards came and couldn't find the perp. They aired it out through the fire escape to the roof. Nobody called the cops or the fire department; I guess this happens too often.
    yes, but you had to be home and notice the smell, and then call management who in turn had to call security to go check out the area and then begin a plan of assessment and action.

    Now imagine you weren't home, and that incense was actually a garbage can in stairwell that caught fire. Even if you were home, the process took so long it probably would have been ... too late.

    As opposed to having a "state of the art" system that auto detects excess levels smoke, and sounds an alarm. Back home many of our apartment buildings would only sound an alarm to security, who would then check security cameras or dispatch a guard immediately to check if there is a problem, who then can pull manual switches in case of serious fire threat.

    I just figured planning for the livelihood of 100's if not thousands of people might be more important than the bother of chasing down perps from burning incense occasionally.
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  8. #8

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    My home in the US has the reverse problem as described by Sunfire. The building wide alarm goes off so often that fewer and fewer residents care, and the local FD started to levy fines on the HOA on these false alarms. I suppose that's the lesson the locals here learned and decided against requiring building wide alarms.

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  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by BaconBreadBaker:
    Realized that none of my flats have ever had smoke detectors. All other places I lived before HK always had this, as it's a fairly good way to sound alarms when no one notices the fire starting.

    Any reason why there is no smoke detectors in all flats or common hallways?

    And... now that I think about it...I don't recall seeing manual fire alarm switches anywhere. But perhaps i missed this.
    Most/many flats in HK highrises have a single door (the front door) and a central hallway with the living room either at one end or in the middle, but almost always directly inside the front door of the apartment. There are no bedroom window fire escapes, of course, or any provision for escaping from any part of the house if the route to the front door is blocked by fire/smoke.

    HK apartments are basically deathtraps.

    There are many situations where smoke alarms certainly would help, but they wouldn't be of much help in many other scenarios -- where, by the time that a smoke alarm woke you up, your one and only escape route would be completely blocked.
    ClueMinus likes this.

  10. #10

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    The place in Wan Chai is here: Index

    It's a bit hard to find, down a little side street.

    > where, by the time that a smoke alarm woke you up, your one and only
    > escape route would be completely blocked.

    Which is why a sensibly positioned detector, and an extinguisher, are useful.

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