【明報專訊】TOWERING INFERNOS are notoriously hard to tame, a challenge faced by fire services worldwide. When seven tower blocks erupted simultaneously in the blaze at Wang Fuk Court, frontline firefighters threw themselves into danger and earned every ounce of credit. Critics dissecting tactics from patchy online clips are engaging in pure paper theory and armchair guesswork.
Drones and robots have made swift progress in recent years, but the technology is still far from battle-ready. With Hong Kong's skyline packed with high-rises, the authorities ought to consider elevating firefighting technology research, and its practical deployment, into a local scientific research and development priority, continuously upgrading the city's existing firefighting gear.
The Fire Services Department has already dipped its toe: three years ago, it acquired two French-made firefighting robots and a large rotary-wing drone from Shenzhen's DJI. When a warehouse fire erupted in Tin Shui Wai this May, both machines joined the fray.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University has been working on smart fire suppression systems, including the "toroidal vortex cannon", commonly known as the "air cannon", capable of putting out fires without water. On the mainland, firms have built heavy-lift drones capable of carrying fire-suppressant payloads. In 2023, the fire-rescue corps in Shanghai carried out a human-machine co-ordinated fire-rescue drill in a 38-storey block, deploying drones, tracked ground robots and wall-climbing robots to douse flames and hunt for survivors. In Japan, the Tokyo Fire Department also experimented in 2022, sending tracked firefighting robots and drones into a residential high-rise rescue exercise.
Once netizens unearthed these reports and footage of fire drills, they wondered aloud why drones and robots were missing from the Wang Fuk Court blaze. The reason is plain enough: most such gadgets are still on trial or in the lab, and their performance is still raw. In such a firestorm, reality bites. Micro-drones struggle to maintain a stable posture and work with precision amid fierce turbulence, while heavy drones that hoist hoses find the kit's weight and swirling air cripple both altitude and balance.
Mainland specialists reckon only swarming fleets of co-ordinated drones will one day deliver enough water and suppressive power to matter. But seasoned doctrine is lacking: how crews on the ground mesh with drones aloft, how drones should interconnect, and how commanders allocate airspace all await proper practice. Training for pilots able to navigate drones in complex fire scenes has barely begun.
Still, a lack of technical and tactical maturity does not make drone- or robot-based firefighting a mere gimmick. Innovative technology development must fit the terrain. In densely packed, vertical Hong Kong, where towers hem in narrow streets, firefighting tech deserves a place at the heart of local scientific research. The government should back universities to go bold. And given the public clamour over why 100-metre turntable ladders stood idle, officials could invite fire-service experts from home and abroad to review the operation—what worked, what could be tighter, and which pieces of equipment might be improved.
明報社評 2025.12.04：救火實戰難紙上談兵 消防科技應用多研究
高樓大火難救，乃全球消防機構面對的問題，像宏福苑大火一下子7幢高樓齊燒，前線消防員奮不顧身應予表揚，行外人根據網上不全面的資料，討論如何救火，流於紙上談兵及想當然。
近年無人機和機械人技術發展迅速，但仍在摸索階段。香港高樓林立，當局可考慮將消防科技研究與應用，納入本地科研發展重點領域，持續改進現有的消防裝備。
消防處3年前引入了兩部法國製滅火機械人，以及深圳大疆製造的大型旋翼無人機。今年5月，天水圍一貨倉發生大火，消防處曾出動無人機及機械人協助救火。
理工大學亦致力研發一些智能滅火方案和產品，例如俗稱「空氣炮」的「環形渦流炮」，實現無水滅火等。內地方面，一些企業也研發出可攜滅火彈的消防用重型無人機。2023年，上海消防救援總隊便在一幢38層高廈，進行「人機協同」火災救援演練，運用無人機、履帶式地面機械人及爬壁式機械人完成滅火及人員搜索。日本方面，東京消防廳2022年也試過派遣履帶式消防機械人和消防無人機，參與一幢住宅高樓的救援。
網民發現這些資訊或滅火演習短片後，關注為何不用無人機和機械人應付宏福苑大火，惟這些高科技救火工具，多處於試用或研究改良階段，技術和性能尚未成熟。面對這樣的大火，現有大多數無人機的實戰效果有限，由於現場往往伴隨複雜湍流，小型無人機難保穩定姿態精準作業；如果由重型無人機攜帶水管升空，水管自身的重量和空中氣流又會限制飛行高度和穩定性。
內地專家指出，要解決救火水量和功率問題，未來須靠大規模無人機編隊協同作戰，然而，地面人員如何與無人機協作、無人機之間如何組網互聯、指揮官如何進行空域調配，目前都缺乏成熟戰法支撐，針對特殊火場環境的專業無人機駕駛員培訓，也尚處起步階段。
當然，技術和戰法未成熟，絕不等於無人機或機械人救火救災只是「噱頭」。創新科技發展應該因地制宜。香港高樓林立，市區環境狹窄，消防科技與應用，正好可以成為本地科研重點領域之一，政府應該大力支持大學做這方面的研究。另外，既然公眾關注為何百米高雲梯車無法派上用場等問題，當局亦可考慮邀請海內外消防專家，就今次火災處理來一次專業檢討，看看滅火工作有哪些地方可以做得更好、哪些消防裝備可以改進。
/ Glossary生字 /
fray：a fight, a competition or an argument, especially one that is exciting or seen as a test of your ability
douse：to stop a fire from burning by pouring water over it; to put out a light
mesh：to fit together or match closely, especially in a way that works well; to make things fit together successfully