Why Hong Kong’s latest fire is so deadly—and not the city’s first
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Authorities are still investigating the fire’s cause, but their preliminary findings flagged the “unusual” speed at which it spread was potentially abetted by flammable materials. Hong Kong Security Secretary Chris Tang, in a press conference early Thursday, said that officials are looking into the “protective netting and films on the buildings’ exterior walls, as well as some waterproof tarpaulins and plastic sheeting” that may have “spread the fire much more violently and rapidly than some compliant materials,” as well as “expanded polystyrene sheets pasted on windows.”
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In April 2024, a fire involving a 60-year-old tenement block in Yau Ma Tei in the Kowloon area left five people dead and dozens injured. In an op-ed at the time about the risks associated with these homes, the South China Morning Post explained that, while a cigarette may have caused the fire, firefighters said subdivided units and “structural alterations” in the building complicated rescue efforts.
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Fireproofing is also expensive. In the 2024 Yau Ma Tei fire, the building’s owners reportedly encountered difficulties in raising funds to comply with fire safety guidelines, with a district councillor noting that “the increasingly high cost of upgrading fire prevention facilities and equipment, especially in the bidding process, had not helped,” according to SCMP.
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But previous fires have shown that compliance with government orders has been poor. In the 2024 Yau Ma Tei fire, the city’s Buildings Department already issued fire safety orders to the owners of the block in question in 2008—including calling for them to replace fire doors and outfit the building with more fire-resistant material. But SCMP reported that despite the department’s follow-up, the order had not been followed.
Since that fire, legislators passed a law enabling the government to carry out fire safety improvement works and target building owners who fail to comply. But a city lawmaker raised earlier this year that violations persist, including public passageways being blocked by miscellaneous items and smoke-stop doors being left open in composite buildings and factory buildings.
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