A 61-year-old man has been taken to hospital with second-degree burns after a fire broke out at a plastics warehouse in Yuen Long where he worked.

The blaze broke out at 12:39 am on Friday at Wing Ning Tsuen in Yuen Long, and was upgraded to a third alarm fire some 20 minutes later. It was largely extinguished within three hours.

Fung San-yen (left) and Samuel Wong (centre) of the FSD and Mak Sze-wai of the police speak to reporters after a fire in Yuen Long on May 10, 2024. Photo: Screenshot via Fire Services Department livestream.
Fung San-yen (left) and Samuel Wong (centre) of the FSD and Mak Sze-wai of the police speak to reporters after a fire in Yuen Long on May 10, 2024. Photo: Screenshot via Fire Services Department livestream.

The authorities advised residents affected by the smoke and any unusual odours to close their doors and windows and stay calm.

New Territories North Division Officer Samuel Wong said the department deployed 161 paramedics and firefighters with three hoses and 38 fire trucks, and three breathing apparatus teams.

The blaze emitted a large amount of smoke because the warehouse, measuring 20 metres by 40 metres, was stacked with plastic pipes, Wong told reporters in the early hours.

A fire broke out at a Yuen Long plastics warehouse on May 10, 2024. Photo: Fire Services Department.
A fire broke out at a Yuen Long plastics warehouse on May 10, 2024. Photo: Fire Services Department.

While the fire had been largely put out, firefighters were still working to reduce the overall temperature of the area, Wong said.

The worker suffered second-degree burns to more than half of his body and was taken to Tuen Mun Hospital, said Fung San-yen, head of the Lei Muk Shue Ambulance Depot.

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James Lee is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press with an interest in culture and social issues. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Journalism from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he witnessed the institution’s transformation over the course of the 2019 extradition bill protests and after the passing of the Beijing-imposed security law.

Since joining HKFP in 2023, he has covered local politics, the city’s housing crisis, as well as landmark court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial. He was previously a reporter at The Standard where he interviewed pro-establishment heavyweights and extensively covered the Covid-19 pandemic and Hong Kong’s political overhauls under the national security law.