The Grade 5 fire that broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, Hong Kong on November 26, 2025, is one of the most severe fires in Hong Kong in nearly 60 years. According to announcements from relevant departments of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and expert analysis, the outbreak and rapid spread of the fire were caused by a combination of multiple factors, with the specific reasons as follows:
1. Flammable construction materials fueled the fire
Wang Fuk Court, where the fire broke out, was under maintenance. A large number of bamboo scaffolding was erected outside the building, and protective nets, waterproof canvas, plastic sheets and other materials were installed on the external walls. Bamboo has a low ignition point and burns extremely quickly, and preliminary investigations indicate that these supporting materials were suspected of failing to meet fire safety standards. After the fire broke out, the bamboo caught fire rapidly and ignited various protective materials. In addition, the polystyrene boards surrounding the building's windows and doors are highly flammable; their combustion not only caused glass to shatter, but also rapidly intensified the fire and spread it into the indoor areas, becoming an important driver of the fire's spread.
2. Meteorological conditions and building structure exacerbated the fire spread
On the day of the incident, the weather was dry and windy. On one hand, the strong wind increased the intensity of convective and radiant heat transfer of the flame, making the fire burn more fiercely; on the other hand, the wind blew burning debris and bamboo scaffolding fragments to nearby buildings, causing the fire to break through the scope of a single building and spread to 7 buildings. Meanwhile, the residential buildings involved have a concave groove structure; this vertical structure is prone to forming a "chimney effect". Combined with the scaffolding and protective nets built during construction, the fire was no longer confined to flat floors but rapidly climbed into three-dimensional space, forming multi-dimensional combustion and greatly accelerating the spread of the fire.
3. Improper construction planning amplified fire risks
Multiple buildings in Wang Fuk Court were under maintenance and construction at the same time. This simultaneous construction of multiple buildings directly "eliminated" the original fire separation distance between the buildings. In a high-density building environment, fire separation distance is an important line of defense to prevent fire from spreading across buildings. However, this key safety point was ignored in the construction planning, allowing the fire to easily spread from the building where it broke out to surrounding buildings, ultimately resulting in a large-scale fire.
4. Gross negligence on the part of relevant personnel
The Hong Kong Police Force has identified the engineering company responsible for installing flammable materials on the external walls, and believes that the person in charge of the company committed gross negligence. The use of materials that do not meet fire safety standards, unreasonable construction and installation methods, and other issues have laid major safety hazards for the outbreak and rapid spread of the fire.
