The deadly mix of factors that made the Hong Kong high-rise fire so devastating
The blaze in densely packed housing complex, that a University of Queensland professor likened to a wildfire, has killed at least 94 people and took more than 24 hours to bring under control.
The fire spread at an astonishing pace.
It started Wednesday afternoon. When Ho Wai-ho and his fellow firefighters arrived at the scene about 10 minutes later, the blaze was already racing up the green netting and bamboo scaffolding covering the 31-story high rise.
About half an hour later, colleagues lost contact with Ho. The fire ripped through seven buildings at Wang Fuk Court, a densely-packed apartment complex in Hong Kong that housed nearly 5000 people.
Residents scrambled to exit, but many were trapped on the upper levels of the towers. Thick smoke filled the stairways and rose above the waterfront development.
Firefighters wielding fire hoses struggled to temper the blaze, which roared into the night and through the next day. Extreme heat prevented rescue workers from entering some of the buildings.
Ho was found with burns on his face and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, according to the fire services department. He was one of at least 94 people killed, authorities said. About 70 were injured as of Thursday night.
Many were still searching for family members and loved ones trapped in the blaze.
“We’ve been receiving calls looking for missing persons all night. Many of them kept crying on the phone and couldn’t sleep,” said Cora Ip, a social worker working on relief efforts at one of the frontline shelter centres operated by the non-profit Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Residents of the towers who were away when the fire started recounted the horrors of learning that their family members may have been trapped inside the buildings.
The fire displaced thousands of residents of Wang Fuk Court, where many elderly people purchased apartments decades ago through a government-subsidised homeownership program.
The fire is the deadliest in Hong Kong since a 1948 warehouse explosion that killed 176 people. It drew comparisons to the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in the UK that killed more than 70.
Residents and officials were left grappling with a bewildering question: How did the fire become so deadly so quickly?
Though the cause of the fire remains unknown, authorities questioned whether a continuing renovation project at the complex met safety standards. Officials found flammable materials that may have accelerated the fire, including styrofoam used to seal windows, protective netting, canvas and plastic sheets.
On Thursday, officials called those in charge of the construction company “grossly negligent” and arrested three men for alleged manslaughter.
The fire also put under scrutiny the bamboo scaffolding that encased the buildings at Wang Fuk Court. The centuries-old technique is a feature of Hong Kong’s urban landscape that the government has been moving to phase out because of its flammable nature.
John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said Thursday evening that the government would discuss a road map for replacing bamboo scaffolding with metal. He also said each affected household would first receive 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, or about $2000, while HK$300 million, or about $59 million, would be allocated to establish a relief fund.
“We are experiencing this collective pain,” Lee said.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged all-out rescue efforts and sent condolences. Lee said he is drafting a checklist to Beijing for items that Hong Kong needs, such as drones for building inspection, burn-care supplies and laboratory-test materials.
It was a fire that led to Wang Fuk Court’s creation in the first place. In 1953, a fire destroyed a shantytown called Shek Kip Mei, leaving more than 53,000 people homeless. In response, the British colonial government established a public-housing authority that later launched a program to sell apartments at below-market prices to families that otherwise would be unable to buy a home. Wang Fuk Court was built in 1983 as part of the subsidised homeownership program.
Wang Fuk Court, in the Tai Po district, was considered a lower‑middle‑class development, providing affordable housing for working families. Over time, many residents aged in place, turning the estate into a community of older homeowners.
More than one-third of the roughly 4600 residents at Wang Fuk Court were over the age of 65, according to a 2021 census. The nearly 2000 units were small, under 500 square feet, the estate’s incorporated owners’ website said.
That density is emblematic of Hong Kong itself, one of the most crowded cities in the world. High-rise apartment blocks dominate the skyline and small units are the norm for families across the territory. In such an environment, the risks of any disaster are magnified: When people live so close together, a fire can spread quickly and affect thousands at once.
Wang Fuk Court had received a government order to undergo mandatory building inspection in 2016, but it wasn’t until last year that the costly overhaul was approved by incorporated owners, according to documents shared by residents. The roughly $US42 million ($64m) renovation was a subject of dispute among residents, who were required to pay for it, some of them said.
The bamboo scaffolding that had encased the buildings is a ubiquitous sight in Hong Kong, where it has long been used as an affordable and lightweight material for construction. But its use has been called into question over fire and safety concerns.
“Bamboo scaffolding is combustible,” said Jiang Liming, a professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University who studies fire safety. “When a fire is initiated, it can ignite the bamboo scaffolding.”
In March, Hong Kong authorities began requiring that at least half of all new public-works contracts specify metal scaffolding, which generated a backlash from scaffolding unions and the construction industry.
Hong Kong since Monday has been under a red fire-danger warning, the highest level, with dry weather making the risk of fire extremely high.
Anwar Orabi, a lecturer in fire-safety engineering at the University of Queensland in Australia, who previously lived in Hong Kong, likened the Wang Fuk Court blaze to a wildfire.
“This is the first time I’ve seen something like this of this scale,” said Orabi. “It spread like fire would spread from one tree to the next in the wildland.”
Wall Street Journal
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout