The catastrophic blaze at Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court complex in Tai Po has become the deadliest urban fire there in decades, with more than a hundred deaths confirmed and hundreds still unaccounted for as searches continue. Seven of the estate’s eight towers were wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh for renovation, creating a perfect fuel ladder that helped flames race across 32-storey blocks within minutes. For India’s rapidly growing metros, where old high-rises are routinely “beautified” while fully occupied, the similarities are chilling, not theoretical.
Renovation deathtraps in plain sight
Investigators in Hong Kong are probing how the fire appears to have started or spread on the bamboo scaffolding and construction netting around one block before leaping to neighbouring towers. The complex was undergoing an exterior renovation, with temporary materials and work zones effectively wrapped around homes where thousands of people were still living.
In Indian cities, this scene is painfully familiar: inhabited towers cocooned for months in flimsy green mesh and bamboo, while welding, grinding, and gas-cutting continue inches away from windows. The only way to break this pattern is to treat renovation of occupied buildings almost like a new high‑risk industrial site, with strict, enforceable protocols rather than informal arrangements between contractors and societies.
- Make fire‑retardant debris netting (FRDN) compulsory on any building above a fixed height (for example, 15 meters), instead of agricultural shade‑net that burns violently.
- Require “hot work permits” from the local fire authority or a certified fire professional for every day that exterior welding, cutting, or flame‑producing work is done on an occupied building, with fire watchers, extinguishers, and hoses physically present on the scaffold.
- Impose heavy penalties, including stoppage of work, where contractors or Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) bypass these conditions.
Bamboo scaffolding: cultural icon or vertical fuse?
Bamboo scaffolding has long been celebrated as a low‑cost, flexible construction technique in both Hong Kong and many Indian cities, but at Wang Fuk Court, it became a ready-made vertical conduit for the fire. Flames appear to have climbed externally along the bamboo and netting, bypassing internal compartmentation that is supposed to slow fire spread between floors.
In India, bamboo around high‑rises must be treated not as a harmless tradition, but as a fire‑load calculation. Where bamboo continues, it should be the exception, not the default.
- Mandate a shift to steel scaffolding for all high‑rise work beyond a defined number of floors, so that the support system itself does not burn.
- Where bamboo is still permitted, insist on certified fire‑retardant treatment, periodic inspection of that treatment, and a clear ban on attaching tarpaulins or plastic sheets that can act as chimneys.
- For large façade renovations, extend temporary dry riser or hose lines outside the building so firefighters can attack an external scaffold fire quickly, without waiting to reach the upper floors from inside.
Killer facades: when “modern” means combustible
Early reports from Hong Kong suggest that flammable foam boards and plastic-based materials used near lift lobbies and on facades may have intensified heat and smoke, echoing past high‑rise disasters linked to combustible cladding. The combination of decorative panels, insulation boards, and sealed windows can turn corridors into toxic ovens long before firefighters arrive.
India’s obsession with cheap aluminium composite panels (ACP) and other plastic‑cored “modern” skins has created similar risks on both commercial towers and residential societies. The National Building Code (NBC) 2016 already stresses the use of non‑combustible materials, fire‑rated assemblies, and careful control of facade systems on high‑rise structures, but enforcement on the ground remains patchy.
- Impose an outright ban on ACP and cladding systems with combustible cores on buildings above a specified height, backed by clear technical definitions and laboratory test standards.
- Launch time‑bound city‑wide facade audits for high‑rises to identify dangerous cladding, starting with hospitals, schools, and densely populated old towers.
- Issue statutory orders requiring replacement of hazardous materials within a fixed period, combined with disclosure: societies that ignore orders should be publicly listed as “high fire‑risk buildings” so residents and buyers know the danger.
From paper NOCs to live fire readiness
Residents at Wang Fuk Court have reported that no alarm sounded in many parts of the complex as fire and smoke advanced, raising questions about the inspection and maintenance of systems that existed on paper. Authorities have already arrested several people linked to the contractor and are investigating wider negligence, not just the initial spark.
Indian cities suffer from a similar “certificate culture,” where a fire No Objection Certificate (NOC) is treated as a one‑time hurdle rather than a living obligation. A painted riser, a control panel with blinking lights, or a framed NOC on the office wall does not save lives—only systems that are powered, pressurised, and regularly tested do.
- Replace purely document‑based fire audits with mandatory physical performance tests of pumps, sprinklers, alarms, smoke detectors, and emergency lighting at least once a year, recorded on video and digitally logged with the fire department.
- Make RWA office bearers and facility managers personally liable, civil and criminal, if a random inspection finds that core fire systems are non‑functional or deliberately disabled.
- Require societies to display the date and status of their last successful fire drill and system test in every lobby, just like lift inspection certificates, so residents can see whether their building is truly ready.
Stairwells: the last unburnt corridor
In Hong Kong, dozens of people were trapped in their flats as intense heat and smoke cut off escape routes, turning upper floors into lethal pockets. When stairwells fill with smoke or their doors fail, even a structurally sound building can become unsurvivable within minutes.
Across Indian metros, fire escape stairs are often misused as extra storage, service spaces, or even extended balconies—packed with old furniture, plant pots, cycles, and garbage. Propped‑open fire doors that “improve ventilation” in everyday life allow smoke to pour into the only protected route people have during a fire.
- Declare all fire staircases and their landings as “zero‑tolerance zones” with explicit fines and immediate seizure or disposal of any stored material.
- Enforce self‑closing, smoke‑sealed fire doors to stairwells and strictly prohibit wedging them open; security staff and RWAs should treat this as seriously as tampering with a lift.
- Conduct compulsory evacuation drills at least once a year in every high‑rise, so residents know the route, understand the rules (no lifts, stay low, follow signage), and do not waste precious minutes in confusion.
The Wang Fuk Court inferno is not a freak event; it is what happens when old towers, combustible renovations, weak enforcement, and complacent building management meet a single spark. India already has every ingredient visible in this disaster across its own skylines—the only missing variable is time.
