Key points
- A No. 5 alarm fire, the territory highest alert level, broke out at Wang Fuk Court estate in Tai Po on Wednesday afternoon, spreading across bamboo scaffolding around several 31 story residential towers.
- At least 13 people have died and 15 have been injured, including several in critical condition, with hundreds more evacuated and many residents initially reported missing.
- All eight blocks of the 41 year old estate were wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and netting for major renovation works, which helped the flames jump rapidly from one facade to another.
- Authorities have opened multiple temporary shelters, including Kwong Fuk Community Hall and Tung Cheong Street Community Hall, and set up a help desk at Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital for affected residents.
- The blaze has intensified calls to phase out bamboo scaffolding in favour of metal systems in Hong Kong, as officials confirm it will be a central focus of the investigation.
The fire was first reported at around 2,50 p.m. local time when passers by noticed bamboo scaffolding burning on one of the blocks, and it was quickly upgraded from a No. 1 to No. 4 alarm as flames shot up the exterior. By the evening, authorities had raised it to a No. 5 alarm, Hong Kong most serious classification, as the blaze spread across facades and smoke poured from windows in several towers.
Wang Fuk Court is a large subsidised home ownership estate in the New Territories, comprising eight high rise blocks with nearly 2,000 flats and housing roughly 4,000 to 4,600 residents. At the time of the fire, all eight buildings were undergoing extensive exterior wall repairs and were fully wrapped in closely packed bamboo scaffolding and mesh, creating a continuous external surface for the flames to climb.
Death toll, rescue operation and disruption
Initial reports spoke of four deaths and several injuries, but officials later confirmed that at least 13 people had died and 15 were injured, nine of the victims being declared dead at the scene. The fire services deployed about 767 firefighters, 128 fire trucks and 57 ambulances to the scene, using ladder trucks and multiple water jets as they attempted rescues through thick black smoke and falling debris.
Authorities said more than a thousand residents were evacuated from the burning estate, with some families reporting relatives unaccounted for as the night went on. Hong Kong Transport Department closed sections of Tai Po Road and nearby streets, diverting or suspending bus routes serving the area, which is one of the main highway corridors in the city.
Bamboo scaffolding under the spotlight
Investigators and fire safety experts say the external bamboo scaffolding, wrapped in plastic or fabric safety netting, likely acted as a rapid pathway for the fire to spread vertically and laterally across multiple towers. Footage shared by international media shows flames racing across the bamboo frames that cocooned the buildings, with burning mesh peeling away and falling to the ground.
🇭🇰 At least 4 people have died and several others were injured after a major fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, #HongKong, today.
— LiveLeak (@leaklive1) November 26, 2025
The blaze spread quickly along bamboo scaffolding surrounding the residential blocks. pic.twitter.com/HrUopSH4fg
Bamboo scaffolding has long been a trademark of Hong Kong’s skyline because it is light, strong and easy to assemble at great height, but its combustibility and tendency to deteriorate have raised growing safety concerns. The Development Bureau has already begun mandating greater use of metal scaffolding on new public projects, and officials say the Tai Po disaster will likely accelerate plans to further restrict or phase out bamboo in high-risk settings.
Government shelters and support for residents
In response to the fire, the Tai Po District Office opened temporary shelters at Kwong Fuk Community Hall and Tung Cheong Street Community Hall to host evacuated residents who could not return home. Additional facilities, including Tai Po Community Centre, Fu Shan Community Hall and the Chinese Christian Church Fung Leung Kit Memorial Secondary School, were also prepared to take in displaced families as needed.
A dedicated help desk has been set up at Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, providing information, registration and basic assistance to injured residents and relatives searching for loved ones. The district office has said it will keep monitoring the situation, coordinate with social welfare and housing departments, and open more shelters if required, while the firefighting and recovery operations continue.
