Hongfu Garden Hearing | Plumber: One month before the fire, the fire water tank had not a drop of water

Tai Po Hung Fuk Court fire Independent Committee held its first hearing of the second round today, summoning four people to give evidence, including Assistant Director of Fire Services (Licensing and Approvals) Chiang Shih-ming, Chung Kitwen, director and engineer of Hong Tai Firefighting Engineering, Tang Hing-lun, a plumbing worker, and Liang Ping-chi, director of Zhonghua Development Engineering Co., Ltd., a fire installation contractor.

Tang Hing-lun, the plumbing worker for the fire contractor Hong Tai Engineering of Hung Fuk Court, gave evidence. He said that around October 16, 2025, about a month before the blaze occurred, he carried out works at Building 3 of Hung Fuk Court to replace the plumbing stopcock and gate valve controls. After the work was completed, he opened the rooftop fire water tank outlet gate valve switches for testing, but found that there was no water coming out.

Tiles had been laid inside the tank, with a bucket holding the sledgehammer

Tang Hing-lun said that when he opened the water tank to check, he found there was “not a single drop of water.” Inside, the tank had previously been lined with tiles, and in one of the water tanks there was even “a bucket holding a load of sledgehammers,” so he estimated that tiling work was in progress. The next day, he tested the rooftop tank outlet gate valve switches for the other five buildings and found there was also no water.

After notifying his supervisor, he asked the manager of Hung Fuk Court’s property management company, Zhibang Engineering, Lin Wenxin. The latter told him that there was no water because the fire water tanks were undergoing rectification works. Tang did not further inquire into the details. After the repair was completed on October 17, and for peace of mind, he still instructed a colleague to reopen the water taps.

Committee barrister Li Shu-huan pressed him on why he had still asked his colleague to open the water taps despite knowing it could not be tested. Tang Hing-lun replied that it was part of the workflow. He said that he had confirmed at the time that the water tanks had no water, and he also informed his boss Chung Kitwen. After Lin Wenxin told him that there was a “notification with a label” (fire installation shutdown notice), Chung Kitwen asked him to continue the repair work.