Illegal fuel station operations are being conducted closer to more urban areas, posing a greater threat to public safety, the Fire Services Department said on Friday.

That was evinced by the arrest of a man on Wednesday on suspicion of operating an illegal fuel station on a ground-floor unit of a mixed residential and commercial building in To Kwa Wan, with officers seizing 850 litres of petrol.

Speaking on RTHK, divisional officer Ng Wing-chit said the new modus operandi of illegal fuel station operators poses a challenge for officers trying to shut them down.

"In the past, they were located in remote areas, the countryside, cordoned-off areas or parking lots on derelict land," he said.

"But now the trend is that they have become more mobile, fragmented and closer to the urban areas.

"More mobile means they are no longer fixed at one station. They might use modified vehicles – that is to say, mobile illegal fuel stations or illegal fuel cars – which can go anywhere. Fragmented means they used to be large-scale. But now they are smaller and scattered around at different locations."

Ng noted that the To Kwa Wan case could have put lives in danger in the event of any accident as, apart from residents living in the building, there were also elderly residential homes nearby.

Higher oil prices have given motorists an incentive to go to illegal fuel stations as they offer cheaper fuel, he said.

"Such illegal fuel stations lack compliant fire-service installations, equipment or management expertise," Ng pointed out.

"Once there is a leakage, improper operation or a spark, it can lead to a fire or an explosion. It's very dangerous."

The department has received more than 200 complaints about illegal fuel stations in the first two months of the year, Ng said, which represents a 42 percent increase over the average monthly figure for last year.

There has also been an 85 percent jump in the number of prosecutions initiated compared to the average monthly figure a year ago.

The honorary life president of the Hong Kong, China Automobile Association, Ringo Lee, pointed out on the same show that fuel thefts had not – before Wednesday's revelation that more than HK$30,000 worth of diesel had been siphoned from four oil tankers parked overnight in Tuen Mun – occurred for a long time.

He suspected the oil tankers were easy targets as their huge loads of at least 1,000 litres made discoveries of fuel theft less obvious.


Edited by Tony Sabine