Emergency Alert System inactive during Tai Po fire as only ‘district-level’ incident: Algernon Yau

Citing the No.5 alarm fire at Wang Fuk Court as a “district-level” incident, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah explained that the Emergency Alert System (EAS) was not activated to alert all mobile phone users in the city. 

The statement comes amid criticisms that the HK$150 million system—launched in 2020 to deliver instant alerts in extreme weather, serious public safety threats, and major health crises— was inactive during the blaze last November. 

In a written reply on Wednesday (Feb 4), Yau explained that the EAS is designed to issue alerts to all mobile users across Hong Kong. However, despite the Tai Po fire falling under the classification of a “district-level” incident, the EAS was not activated.

He further noted that  the Fire Services Department arrived at the scene within five minutes after receiving the report, where the sirens of fire engines and police vehicles had served as an immediate alert for residents. 

Additionally, the government issued a "special announcement" regarding the Tai Po fire through press releases and repeated broadcasts on radio and television to remind local residents of the situation.

While the system is technically capable of disseminating messages to specific districts, Yau indicated that the government is actively reviewing and enhancing its configuration and application.

He stressed the EAS is just one of many channels, and departments will assess circumstances carefully before using it to target the public in specific areas.

According to reports, the EAS has only been activated once in March 2022 to notify the public that Queen Elizabeth Hospital had been converted to a designated hospital for COVID-19 patients. 

The system also faced widespread public scrutiny following the “once-in-500-years” black rainstorm in September 2023, during which no alerts were issued. Critics flooded the Hong Kong Observatory’s social media channels with complaints about the EAS.

In response at that time, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu stated that the priority is to ensure that information reaches the public effectively, regardless of the channels used.

Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan added that the system was intended for major events like large earthquakes or tsunamis.