Hong Kong residents and experts defend bamboo scaffolding after deadly fire

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: ABC News

Hong Kong residents and experts defend bamboo scaffolding after deadly fire

Hong Kong residents and experts are pushing back against claims that bamboo scaffolding was a key reason for the city's deadliest fire in decades

By CHAN HO-HIM AP Business Writer
December 4, 2025, 12:55 AM ET * 5 min read

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong residents, construction professionals and former senior officials are pushing back against the idea that bamboo scaffolding was a main reason flames spread so quickly in the city’s deadliest blaze in decades, as a debate flares over whether it should be replaced. ... Authorities were quick to focus on the traditional scaffolding enveloping the apartment buildings at the Wang Fuk Court complex -- where the fatal Nov. 26 blaze spread from one tower to seven, killing at least 159 people. While much of the green netting covering the scaffolding incinerated, some of the bamboo scaffolding also burned and fell, and officials have stepped up plans to replace it.

Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight on Hong Kong high rises, though mainland China and places elsewhere in Asia have mostly begun using metal alternatives. ... An industry union says Hong Kong has an estimated 3,000 workers registered to erect bamboo scaffolding, a construction technique dating back hundreds of years.

Experts are skeptical about blaming bamboo ... “I would be very cautious about blaming bamboo itself before the full investigation reports are published,” said Kristof Crolla, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Hong Kong whose focus includes bamboo architecture. ... As a natural material, bamboo can be combustible, Crolla said. But “when it is properly used and combined with certified fire-retardant netting it is comparatively hard to ignite.”

During the fire, flames shot up the bamboo scaffolding erected for external maintenance work,-as well as the green netting draping it. But bamboo is usually not “easily ignited," said Raffaella Endrizzi, an architect who researches bamboo scaffolding who teaches at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “Focusing on bamboo alone risks obscuring more systemic safety issues,” she said.

{snip}

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Business/wireStory/hong-kong-residents-experts-defend-bamboo-scaffolding-after-128099120

[maxsolomon]

1. My wife has a co-worker with family in HK

She said the repair work was breaking windows, so the contractors covered the windows with panels of Styrofoam. The feeling in HK is that it was the foam more than the bamboo.

[pecosbob]

2. My understanding is that it sub-standard, non-fireproof, Chinese-made netting wrapping the buildings that was to blame.