The legal team for an independent committee examining the cause of Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po fire has recommended that authorities gradually phase out bamboo scaffolding in favour of metal replacements, among other proposals ranging from legislative reform to measures to curb bid-rigging.
The suggestions were outlined in 627 pages of closing submissions from the committee’s lawyers on Friday, concluding hearings that started in March to examine the Wang Fuk Court fire. The blaze last November killed 168 people and displaced about 5,000 residents.
One recommendation urged authorities to consider moving away from bamboo and combustible plastic wraps to avoid accelerating the spread of fire once material was burning.
“We therefore recommend exploring (and possibly funding and subsidising) a potential transition away from traditional bamboo scaffolding and combustible plastic wraps,” the committee’s counsel wrote.
The suggestion ran counter to previous testimonies from fire experts and firefighters who said that while burning bamboo could release pyrolysis gas that was flammable and could contribute to a fire, metal scaffolding could also pose risks if intense heat caused it to deform.
The committee’s lawyers had based their suggestion on evidence showing the heat generated in the Wang Fuk Court blaze had caused pyrolysis in the bamboo scaffolding, which then contributed to the intensity and upwards spread of the fire.