A fire simulation conducted to investigate the rapid spread of last year’s deadly apartment complex fire in Tai Po has found that non-fire-resistant materials may have caused “secondary ignitions” that worsened the spread of the inferno.
Testifying at a public hearing investigating the cause of The fire that killed 168 and thousands displaced last November, Richard Yuen, a professor of architectural engineering at the City University of Hong Kong, said it was likely that the scaffolding around the property at the time was not fireproof.
In the test, conducted at Sichuan University of Science and Engineering’s College of Fire Safety, it took just minutes for fire to climb to the top of a three-story structure meant to simulate conditions at Wang Fuk Court, the site of the deadly fire.
A sample taken from the estate’s only undamaged building, Wang Chi House, burned to the ground when ignited in the test. Yuen said it was “highly likely” the sample was not fire-resistant.
Yuen also said that non-fire-resistant scaffolding nets may have caused “secondary ignition” that worsened the fire’s spread by igniting wooden planks, foam boards and bamboo poles on fire.
Fireproof windows have been removed
In another experiment, fireproof windows that were removed to allow workers more convenient access to the exterior of buildings were able to block temperatures of up to 1,061 degrees Celsius, Yuen said.
The committee had previously heard that openings allowed toxic fumes and smoke to enter emergency stairwells, speeding the spread inside buildings and trapping occupants. Earlier hearings also revealed that residents lodged complaints with multiple government departments before the fire.
The committee’s chief adviser Victor Dawes said earlier that initial investigations found the fire was likely caused by workers smoking, while flammable building materials may have contributed to the rapid spread of fire and smoke.
The presence of combustible materials and the use of non-combustible construction materials were the final factors behind the rapid spread of the fire, Yuen said on Wednesday.
Yuen said the simulation revealed that the fire nets would not ignite, adding that the fire could have extinguished itself if the proper nets had been used.
Deputy Director of the Department of Fire Services Yiu Men-yeung, testifying after Yuen, attributed the high death toll to several reasons, including a disabled fire alarm system, inaccessible escape routes and chalkboards obstructing vision.
Yiu, who also heads the government’s inter-agency investigation task force, told the committee that more than 90 percent of the dead were found in Wang Cheong House and Wang Tai House, the two buildings that were the first to burn.
Most of the victims at Wang Cheong House retreated to their apartments and died there after finding that the emergency stairs were not a viable means of escape, Yiu said. The bodies of people in the Wang Tai House were mostly found on lower levels, where they found exits blocked by fallen debris, he added.
