A smoky fire broke out in a restaurant at the junction of Rua da Barca (渡船街) and Estrada do Repouso (鏡湖馬路) in San Kio district yesterday afternoon, causing a three-year-old boy from the mainland to sustain burns on his left leg, the Fire Services Bureau (CB) said in an onsite press briefing after putting the fire out.
San Kio (新橋), a densely populated old neighbourhood in the peninsula, is officially known as Barca in Portuguese.
The boy was eating with his father at the restaurant when the blaze erupted. His leg was hit by burning objects falling from the ceiling.
The bureau said firefighters extinguished the blaze in about 20 minutes and believed that the fire was possibly caused by a sudden flame flare-up that ignited grease deposits in a kitchen hood.
Briefing reporters outside the restaurant about the blaze, Ng Chon Leong, who heads the Central Fire Station, said that the bureau received a report about the fire at 3:19 p.m., after which firefighters arrived at the scene at 3:22 p.m. when the restaurant’s kitchen was ablaze.
The Central Fire Station is located just next to the private Kiang Wu Hospital.
Ng said that the firefighters brought the blaze under control in two minutes, after which they completely extinguished it at 3:43 p.m., 21 minutes after arriving at the scene.
According to Ng, 10 restaurant patrons self-evacuated during the fire, including the three-year-old boy who was hit on the left leg by burning objects falling from the ceiling when escaping from the fire with his father.
The boy sustained slight burns on his left thigh and calf, after which he was taken to Kiang Wu Hospital for treatment, Ng said, adding that he was in a stable condition.
The boy has entered Macau as a visitor from the mainland with his family.
According to Ng, the bureau deployed five fire engines with 20 firefighters and paramedics to the scene for the fire-fighting operation.
Ng said that after a preliminary investigation, firefighters believe that the blaze was possibly caused by a sudden flame flare-up during cooking which then ignited grease deposits that had accumulated over time in a kitchen hood.
The restaurant, Nga Kai (雅佳), is a “cha chaan teng” (traditional Hong Kong and Macau-style café).
Also briefing journalists, Chong Chan Ip, a senior Public Security Police (PSP) officer, said that several streets at and around the scene were closed to traffic during the fire-fighting operation where 18 police officers were deployed to maintain order. The streets reopened to traffic at around 5 p.m.
Firefighters battle a blaze at the restaurant at the junction of Rua da Barca and Estrada do Repouso in San Kio district yesterday afternoon. – Photo courtesy of TDM
