Gov’t demands report within week following blaze at Shek Kwu Chau waste facility

Hong Kong environmental authorities have instructed the works contractor for a waste incineration plant where a fire broke out on Monday to submit an incident report within seven days, after close to 1,000 people were evacuated, with one sent to hospital.

The statement came hours after the blaze at the I·PARK1 waste management facility, rated at No. 3, was put out at around 4.45pm on Monday, roughly three hours after the Fire Services Department (FSD) received initial reports.

The facility, which sits on an artificial island off Shek Kwu Chau, south of Lantau Island, is Hong Kong’s first waste-to-energy plant.

Preliminary information indicated that the fire broke out on the roof of the main incinerator building’s third incineration module, a Monday government statement said. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

“After the fire broke out, the contractor of the facility took immediate actions according to its emergency response protocol,” the statement said, including reporting the incident, deploying a response team, evacuating workers and staff, and suspending critical system operations.

Seven-day deadline

According to the statement, some 970 construction workers and operation staff were evacuated, with one staff member sent to hospital after reporting feeling unwell.

“The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has instructed the contractor to submit a report on the fire incident within seven days and will work with the FSD to investigate the cause of fire,” it said.

“The EPD will also evaluate the damage and urge the contractor to conduct repairs as soon as possible,” it said, adding that the department is conducting a review of the fire’s impact on the operations of the facility.

The three incineration modules at I·PARK1 are designed to burn up to 3,000 tonnes of waste daily, according to the EPD. The project is part of the city’s broader effort to reduce its reliance on landfills.

The first module began trial operations in December 2025 with a daily processing capacity of 1,000 tonnes.

The department has arranged to extend the operating hours of the West New Territories Landfill Extension to make up for the shortfall in waste management capacity, the Monday statement said.

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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.