GBA Fire services in cross-border emergency response drills

Ayra Wang

Hong Kong's Fire Services Department, alongside the Fire and Rescue Corps of Guangdong Province and the Macao Fire Services Bureau, conducted a 48-hour large-scale emergency response exercise from March 25 dubbed Liancheng-2025.

The drill simulated multi-agency disaster scenarios, testing cross-border coordination in the Greater Bay Area.

It replicated a typhoon striking Hong Kong, with hikers stranded on a mountain, requiring high-angle rescue operations.

Other scenarios included a hazardous chemical spill from a vehicle, necessitating large-scale decontamination, and a building collapse during a typhoon, prompting joint search-and-rescue efforts.

Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung Yan-kin said the drill evaluated emergency protocols, including the "green channel" system allowing mainland fire trucks rapid entry into Hong Kong and a unified on-site command structure.

Within four hours of Hong Kong's request, 60 Guangdong and 15 Macau firefighters arrived for the drill.

Yeung emphasized a "locality-led" command model, with Hong Kong directing operations and delegating tasks. "To ensure seamless collaboration, the teams standardized equipment lists and conducted prior training," Yeung said.

He noted that the mechanism would activate if local resources were overwhelmed, requiring cross-border assistance, citing 2018's Typhoon Mangkhut, which caused widespread debris blockage.

Last year, the Fire Services Department received 41 reports of hill fires during the Ching Ming Festival. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department reminds citizens paying tribute to ancestors at graveyards in the countryside to exercise caution.