Hong Kong
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The Hong Kong residential towers engulfed by smoke and flames on Wednesday had been surrounded by an historical construction materials acquainted to anybody who’s hung out in the one of many world’s most densely packed city hubs.
It’s practically unattainable to stroll down the streets of Hong Kong and never see buildings surrounded by bamboo scaffolding – a construction materials that’s celebrated for its flexibility, low price and sustainability.
Bamboo scaffolding dates again to not less than the Han dynasty round 2,000 years in the past, and has been used to construct among the metropolis’s tallest and most iconic skyscrapers, like Norman Foster’s HSBC headquarters.
While it’s thought-about a treasured Hong Kong custom, it’s not too long ago drawn scrutiny for being flamable and susceptible to deterioration over time. That’s regardless of disasters like this being extraordinarily uncommon in Hong Kong, which has a powerful monitor document when it comes to constructing security – because of top quality construction and the strict enforcement of constructing rules.
The reason for the fire at Tai Po district is just not but identified, however authorities have arrested three folks linked to a construction firm accused of “gross negligence.” At the time of the blaze, the complicated was under renovation and encased in bamboo scaffolding and security netting.
“Bamboo is definitely a flammable material. This is a very dry season in Hong Kong, so, the likelihood of ignition of this bamboo is very high. Once it’s ignited, the fire spread will be super-fast,” mentioned Xinyan Huang, affiliate professor on the Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering.
The bamboo poles are additionally “vertically oriented, so the fire is basically spreading up without any resistance,” he added.
Officials added that they believe different construction supplies discovered on the residences – together with protecting nets, canvas, and plastic covers – failed to fulfill security requirements.
Police discovered the construction firm title on flammable polystyrene boards that firefighters discovered blocking some home windows on the condo complicated. The director of fire companies mentioned the presence of the boards was “unusual.”
Authorities at the moment are investigating whether or not the polystyrene boards and different flammable materials might have contributed to the inferno.
This yr has seen heightened dialogue of the way forward for bamboo scaffolding. Hong Kong’s Development Bureau not too long ago introduced that fifty% of latest public constructing tasks erected from March onwards would wish to make use of metallic scaffolding to “better protect workers” and align with fashionable construction requirements in “advanced cities.”
There had been 24 deaths associated to bamboo scaffolding from January 2018 to August 2025, in accordance with Hong Kong’s Labour Department.
That announcement had extra to do with employee security than fire hazards – however the latter was dropped at the fore in October after one other constructing lined in scaffolding caught fire in Hong Kong’s central enterprise district. Afterward, authorities mentioned they didn’t see any apparent structural hazards once they inspected the positioning, however mentioned an investigation was underway to find out whether or not all construction supplies had been as much as grade, in accordance with public broadcaster RTHK.
Some observers around the globe could also be confused why Hong Kong – a glittering monetary hub – hadn’t phased out bamboo sooner. The hashtag “Why Hong Kong still uses bamboo scaffolding” trended on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Thursday, with many calling on town’s authorities to observe the lead of mainland Chinese authorities – who banned the usage of bamboo scaffolding in 2022.
But the transfer to drag again on bamboo scaffolding drew backlash from native residents, a lot of whom famous that the technique is a cultural heritage that must be maintained.
The scaffolding is nearly ubiquitous on the streets, a hanging visible complement to the near-constant constructing and re-building that has outlined Hong Kong’s character for many years.
Aside from serving to develop Hong Kong’s fashionable buildings, bamboo has additionally performed an integral position in constructing short-term Cantonese opera theaters.
Some construction staff and unions additionally challenged the notion that bamboo was unsafe, pointing to stringent security rules.
All bamboo scaffolding tasks are required by regulation to observe authorities pointers which might be often up to date. They specify the thickness of the bamboo, the minimal energy of nylon strips used for tying platforms collectively, the right spacing between poles, and lots of extra particulars.
Among these guidelines is a requirement that every one protecting nets, screens, tarps and sheets used to cowl the facade of buildings “should have appropriate fire retardant properties in compliance with a recognized standard,” the regulation reads.
Hong Kong’s chief, John Lee, mentioned at a news conference {that a} process power would examine “whether the building’s exterior walls meet the fire-retardant standard.”
“If there’s any wrongdoing, we’ll pursue accountability in accordance with laws and regulations,” he added.
As investigators proceed their probe, Huang, the professor, mentioned the preliminary trigger is much less essential than the exterior components that allowed a small, remoted flame to unfold throughout seven buildings and kill dozens.
“I think the cause of the fire is not so critical because the building is designed to handle random fire incidents – but it is not designed to handle such a fast fire spread outside the building, and eventually spread back into the building,” he mentioned, pointing to similarities with the devastating 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in West London.
Several different specialists voiced related sentiments.
“While determining the source of ignition is going to be an important part of the investigation for the interest of the public, it is largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of this disaster,” mentioned Anwar Orabi, a lecturer in fire security engineering at The University of Queensland, who mentioned he had lived in Hong Kong for a number of years.
“What matters most here is that the fire was able to spread beyond the spot and building where it started,” he added. “Many factors could have contributed to this, including the scaffolding, which may have provided a ‘highway’ for the fire to travel vertically, and a warm nest for embers from adjacent structures to ignite.”