A female police officer suffered facial burns after a paper shredder caught fire inside an office at the West Wing of Wan Chai Police Headquarters on Tuesday morning, prompting an emergency response at the police complex.
The incident was reported at about 10.57am. The officer remained conscious after the accident and was taken to Ruttonjee Hospital for further medical treatment.
Details surrounding the cause of the fire were not immediately available. The incident occurred inside an office rather than in an open public area of the headquarters, where police staff work and handle administrative duties.
Officer Taken to Hospital
The injured officer suffered burns to her face, with medical dressings later applied to the affected area. Her forearms were also understood to have been bandaged following the incident.
Despite her injuries, the officer remained conscious after the fire. She was subsequently transported to Ruttonjee Hospital, where she received further medical attention.
The nature and extent of her burns have not been publicly detailed. There was also no immediate information indicating that any other person was injured in the incident.
The circumstances in which the paper shredder caught fire have not been established. It was not immediately clear whether the machine malfunctioned, overheated or ignited because of another factor inside the office.
Fire Breaks Out Inside Police Office
Paper shredders are commonly used in police offices to destroy documents containing confidential or sensitive information. The machine involved in Tuesday’s incident was inside an office in the West Wing of Wan Chai Police Headquarters when the fire broke out.
The incident took place at 10.57am during normal daytime operations at the headquarters.
A fire involving office equipment can spread quickly when paper is present. Shredded documents can also provide combustible material, although there is currently no information confirming what caused the machine to ignite or how extensive the fire became.
The available information does not indicate that the incident caused a major fire elsewhere in the headquarters.
Police headquarters are working environments where staff routinely handle equipment, documents and electrical appliances. Any fire involving office machinery can therefore require an immediate response, particularly in a building occupied by personnel and containing sensitive records.
Medical Treatment Follows Accident
The officer’s transfer to Ruttonjee Hospital followed initial assistance after she was injured. Her continued consciousness was noted before she was taken for medical care.
Ruttonjee Hospital, located in Wan Chai, provides emergency and specialist medical services and is among the hospitals serving the district.
The officer’s facial injuries required dressings, while bandages were also applied to her forearms. Those details indicate that the injuries affected more than one area of her body, although no official assessment of their severity has been released.
There was no immediate information on how long the officer would remain in hospital or whether she would require further treatment.
Cause of Fire Not Established
The cause of the blaze remains unclear based on the information available.
There has been no confirmed indication that the incident was deliberate, nor has any specific equipment failure been identified. Without the results of an investigation, it would be premature to attribute the fire to an electrical fault, overheating or improper use of the shredder.
Investigators may need to examine the machine, its power supply and the surrounding office area to establish how the fire started. Any damaged electrical equipment could also be inspected as part of efforts to determine whether a technical fault played a role.
The condition of the office following the incident has not been detailed, and it is not known whether the shredder was seriously damaged or whether the fire was brought under control before it spread beyond the immediate area.
No Other Injuries Reported
The information currently available identifies one injured person, the female police officer who was inside the office when the shredder caught fire.
She was conscious following the incident and was taken to hospital for treatment. No other injuries have been reported in connection with the fire.
The incident nonetheless demonstrates the potential risks posed by ordinary office equipment when machinery overheats or catches fire in an enclosed workplace. A paper shredder may appear to be a routine piece of equipment, but its combination of an electrical motor and large quantities of paper can create a fire hazard if something goes wrong.
For the moment, the focus remains on the injured officer’s recovery and on establishing precisely what happened inside the West Wing office shortly before 10.57am.
Any further findings about the cause of the fire, the condition of the officer or damage to the office would provide a clearer picture of the incident and whether additional workplace safety measures are required.