89 motorbikes turned into useless wrecks

Some 89 motorbikes and several bicycles were severely damaged by a fire early yesterday morning. The affected area was near the residential building San Pou Garden on Avenida Norte do Hipódromo on the Peninsula.
According to local broadcaster TDM Radio News, the local Fire Service Bureau received the fire report at around 4:00am yesterday morning. Fire fighters spent around 10 minutes using three hoses and chemical foam to extinguish the blaze.
The police force has already excluded intended arson as the cause of the fire, after examining the scene and checking nearby surveillance cameras, but the Judiciary Police are still calling on any witnesses to come forward to provide information.
During the fire, four residents inhaled smoke, with two being sent to hospital. Other residents in the building had to be evacuated as well. Aside from the damaged vehicles, the fire also affected four stores nearby. A corridor of a nearby school was blackened and the school was forced to close for one day yesterday.
Meanwhile, a liaison officer for community policing of the Public Security Police Force (PSP), Chan Tak Seng told the broadcaster that several similar incidents had happened previously in the city, pointing out that the significant shortage of parking lots in the Northern District has led to the many burnt vehicles like in this case.
The officer, who also heads the Macau Institution of People’s Alliance, further criticized the MSAR government’s slow progress in improving transport planning, urging relevant departments to improve the public transport policy as soon as possible, with the Fire Services Bureau in charge of enforcing fire regulations and the police force strengthening security patrols in the city.