HONG KONG - A fire broke out at a waste management facility on an artificial island off Hong Kong's southwestern coast on Monday, sending large plumes of thick, black smoke into the air, the city's fire department said, according to Reuters. The fire occurred on the island that houses an incinerator and waste management facilities off the south coast of Lantau island, firefighters were deployed to battle the blaze, and no casualties had been reported at the time of Reuters' first report.

Source: Reuters, Oct 26, by Clare Jim, via WTBX

Local outlet Dimsum Daily identified the site as I-PARK1, the Integrated Waste Management Facilities Phase I on the artificial island off Shek Kwu Chau, and said the blaze, first reported at 12:43pm, was raised to a No. 3 alarm at 1:24pm. Firefighters deployed hose lines and breathing-apparatus teams, with several ambulances standing by, the outlet reported.

Source: Dimsum Daily, Oct 26

Evacuation by boat

About 930 workers on the island evacuated as the incident unfolded, Dimsum Daily reported, and the contractor arranged boats that landed more than 800 of them at Cheung Chau and at Tsuen Wan public pier, with more than 100 still waiting to board by about 3:45pm. A 60-year-old male staff member who had tried to tackle the fire felt unwell, apparently from overheating, but remained conscious; a Government Flying Service helicopter winched him to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital for treatment, the outlet said. That later local account updates Reuters' earlier 'no casualties' line: no deaths or serious injuries were reported in either account.

Source: Dimsum Daily, Oct 26

One worker quoted by Dimsum Daily said staff heard a sudden bang before fire and smoke broke out and the alarm sounded, and placed the seat of the fire in a 19-storey plant building housing heavy machinery. That account of the fire's origin has not been confirmed by the fire department, and no official cause has been announced.

Source: Dimsum Daily, Oct 26 - worker account, unconfirmed

I-PARK1 is Hong Kong's first advanced waste-to-energy plant, occupying about 12 hectares on the artificial island, with three incineration modules; the first entered trial operation in December last year, Dimsum Daily reported. When fully operational, the plant is designed to process around 3,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste a day and export about 480 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year to the public grid - roughly the annual consumption of about 100,000 households, the outlet said. Work at the site was suspended for the day.

Source: Dimsum Daily, Oct 26