HK fire: Is foam, mesh, bamboo, or blatant disregard for safety to blame?

As anger boils over, investigators could take some time to shed light on the tragedy

- Magdalene Fung Hong Kong Correspondent

How did it happen, how was it even allowed to happen, and who ~ or what - should they blame for the blaze that has claimed the lives of 128 people and counting?

The inferno that engulfed the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po district has also left about 4,000 residents homeless, more than 70 injured and 200 unaccounted for.

Hong Kongers are directing their rage at several parties.

The authorities, for their part, have arrested Il people so far, opening criminal investigations and a corruption probe into the incident.

Eight people detained on Nov 28 were two directors of construction consultancy Will Power Architects, two of its project managers overseeing Wang Fuk Court’s maintenance work, three subcontractors for the bamboo scaffolding, and a middleman. Three others — two directors and a senior staff member of building maintenance firm Prestige Construction & Engineering — were arrested on Nov 27.

Officials are now pointing to boards of highly flammable styrofoam, affixed to window frames outside the flats to protect their glass panels from renovation works on the buildings’ exterior, as the cause of the “unusually fast” spread of the blaze.

A day earlier, they had raised the possibility of green mesh and plastic sheets on scaffolding sheathing the buildings as having contributed to the fire’s rapid spread, but later said tests found the netted material “nonflammable”.

Locals, meanwhile, are slamming some media outlets for prematurely casting the blame on bamboo scaffolding - a much-loved cultural icon in Hong Kong that is being actively phased out by the government.

Immediately after news of the blaze broke on Nov 26, many foreign media outlets had jumped to spotlight controversies involving the city’s longtime use of bamboo scaffolding, citing at least two fires involving them in 2025.