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Efforts are underway to extinguish flames as fire engulfs high-rise residential buildings at the Wang Fuk Court complex.Getty Images
Investigators say Styrofoam-sealed windows and non-fireproof netting created a deadly chimney effect that accelerated the blaze.
BySujita Sinha
Nov 27, 2025 04:26 AM EST
Hong Kong was confronted with its deadliest fire in more than six decades on Wednesday afternoon, when a fast-moving blaze tore through Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po.
The fire began at 2:51 pm local time and rapidly climbed across bamboo scaffolding wrapped around several high-rise blocks under renovation.
By Thursday morning, the Fire Services Department confirmed that 55 people had died, up from 44 earlier, making it Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in more than six decades. Fire officials said crews attended 279 calls for help out of 341 reports linked to the blaze.
How the blaze spread across multiple towers
Wang Fuk Court is a large residential estate built in 1983 with eight 31-storey towers and nearly 2,000 small flats. Renovation work had covered the buildings in bamboo scaffolding, green construction netting, and protective plastic sheets. When the fire broke out, these materials acted as fuel and helped connect the blocks externally.
Footage showed flames racing up the bamboo poles and mesh. Police said they received calls from residents trapped inside the first building affected, including a man and woman found unconscious with burns.
The fire escalated from a No. 1 to a No. 4 by 3:34 pm local time, and reached the highest No. 5 level at 6:22 pm local time. Smoke rose across the estate throughout the night. Fire crews used aerial ladders but could only reach lower floors, leaving upper levels dependent on internal firefighting.
As dawn arrived on Thursday, smoke and cinders continued to fall around the complex, and four aerial ladders remained in use after more than 15 hours of firefighting.
The cause of the fire – which began just before 3pm at Wang Fuk Court on Wednesday – remains unknown. But waterproof tarpaulins, protective nets, and plastic sheeting… pic.twitter.com/lgTvBvhebT
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) November 27, 2025
Safety materials under investigation
Police announced early Thursday that three men aged 52 to 68 had been arrested for suspected manslaughter. The individuals include two directors and an engineering consultant from a construction company involved in the renovation.
Senior Superintendent Eileen Chung Lai Yee said investigators identified foam materials installed by the company. She stated: “Police have reason to believe that the company’s responsible persons were grossly negligent, which led to the incident and caused the fire to spread rapidly, resulting in serious casualties.”
Officers said they discovered that floors in an unaffected tower had nets, plastic sheets, and tarpaulin that might not meet fire safety standards. Windows had been sealed with Styrofoam, a material that ignites quickly and can accelerate fire spread.
Fire officials also noted the presence of “extremely inflammable” Styrofoam boards fixed to windows across the estate.
Bamboo scaffolding as a critical leak link
Experts have long warned that bamboo scaffolding, although strong and easy to install, is highly flammable. The connected network of poles allowed the blaze to move between buildings, an event described as rare in Hong Kong’s dense housing estates.
Professor Jiang Liming from Hong Kong Polytechnic University said the volume of bamboo between blocks intensified the spread. He explained that many windows in the 1980s-era buildings likely used single-pane glass that “makes it very easy to be broken by the flames and the flames can then penetrate through the facade.”
Authorities have previously signalled plans to phase out bamboo in favour of steel because bamboo is combustible and degrades over time. Reports earlier this year indicated safety concerns had already prompted several reviews of scaffolding standards.
Historical context of deadly urban fires
This is the worst fire Hong Kong has seen since 1962, when 44 people died in a building in Sham Shui Po. Other major fires include a 1996 blaze at the Garley Building that killed 41 people and a 1948 warehouse explosion that caused 176 deaths.
A Grade 5 fire had not occurred since 2008, when a building in Mong Kok burned, and four people were killed.
Wang Fuk Court houses about 4,600 residents. Its compact layout and closely spaced towers reflect Hong Kong’s high-density housing model. Such designs enable rapid spread of smoke and heat when exterior materials fail.
Original:
https://interestingengineering.com/culture/why-hong-kongs-deadly-blaze-spread-so-fast
