images from the scene showed it spreading rapidly<\/a> across green netting covering the scaffolding erected around the housing complex.<\/p>\nSome of the bamboo lattices crashed to the ground in flames.<\/p>\n
For decades in the skyscraper-strewn former British colony, bamboo has been the material of choice for scaffolding – cheap, abundant and flexible – bound together with nylon cords.<\/p>\n
The craft originated in China where bamboo, viewed as symbolising grace and moral fortitude, has since ancient times been a cornerstone of architecture, even reputedly used for scaffolding and tools in the building of the Great Wall.<\/p>\n
Metal scaffolding becoming more prominent<\/p>\n
Now, though, it has largely been phased out for sturdier metal scaffolding and clamps.<\/p>\n
But Hong Kong, despite its modernity, still has around 2,500 registered bamboo scaffolding masters, according to official figures.<\/p>\n
The number of metal scaffolders is around triple that.<\/p>\n
Small teams climbing buildings to sheathe them in a matter of weeks is a familiar sight in the global financial hub.<\/p>\n
The bamboo lattices are also often used alongside green construction mesh to prevent debris from injuring passers-by, as was the case in the tower blocks at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Hong Kong’s northern Tai Po district.<\/p>\n
Scaffolding checks promised<\/p>\n
“The building’s exterior walls had protective nets, membranes, waterproof tarpaulins, and plastic sheets suspected of not meeting fire safety standards,” Hong Kong police said.<\/p>\n
The city’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said it had launched an investigation, while Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee said a task force had been set up to investigate the cause of the blaze.<\/p>\n
He said the government would check whether scaffolding mesh materials meet fire retardant standards and other safety standards on other projects.<\/p>\n
In March, the government said that 50% of new public works contracts would be required to use metal scaffolding.<\/p>\n
However, the emphasis appeared to be more on worker safety rather than fire risks.<\/p>\n
There were 22 deaths involving bamboo scaffolders between 2019 and 2024, according to official figures.<\/p>\n
Mr Lee said that Hong Kong’s government was considering mandating the use of metal scaffolding and had met the industry to discuss a phase-out of bamboo.<\/p>\n
Last month, a massive bamboo scaffolding caught fire at the Chinachem Tower in the central business district.<\/p>\n
Fire consumed construction netting and bamboo poles, leaving windows burnt out and external walls badly damaged.<\/p>\n
The Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims in Hong Kong said in a Facebook post that there had been at least two other fires involving bamboo scaffolding this year.<\/p>\n
Protective nets, screens and tarpaulins or plastic sheeting installed on the face of scaffolding “should have appropriate fire retardant properties in compliance with a recognised standard,” according to the Hong Kong Labour Department’s Code of Practice for Bamboo Scaffolding Safety.<\/p>\n
Whistleblower points to risks in other housing blocks<\/p>\n
Jason Poon, a whistleblower who has previously exposed shoddy construction work in Hong Kong, said that fire hazard risks existed in scaffolding at many housing complexes.<\/p>\n
He said he had reached out to various government departments last year concerning the lack of fire retardant in scaffolding nets at another complex, but he was ignored.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong’s fire and building safety regulators did not respond to a request to comment.<\/p>\n
“Of course, in terms of material, metal scaffolding is less flammable. That\u2019s a fact,” Chair of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union Chau Sze Kit said.<\/p>\n
But the fire risk for bamboo scaffolding could be limited if a construction management team takes the right steps, he added.<\/p>\n
“Fires on scaffolding usually happen because construction debris accumulates on it – things like paper, towels, clothing, or other flammable materials,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Poor management leads to these incidents.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in three decades has highlighted its risky use of flammable bamboo scaffolding and mesh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-162941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}