'Don't Blame Bamboo': Why Hong Kong Residents Are Furious Over Deadly Residential Fire

The aftermath of the deadly residential fire that broke out in Hong Kong paints a grim picture of the horrors that unfolded since Wednesday. The infuriated residents have now taken it upon themselves to “prove” to the world that bamboo played no role in the fire that ravaged seven of eight buildings in the Fuk Court complex in Tai Po district.

“Bamboo scaffolding retaining its structural integrity while fire ravaged through green netting in Hong Kong incident,” a Reddit user wrote as they shared visuals of one of the towers that allegedly showed the bamboo scaffolding “intact” despite the ghastly fire that consumed 83 souls, including the loss of a firefighter.

“It’s Not Bamboo!”

A chorus of worried voices erupted across social media as thousands, both locals and outsiders,

condemned the rapid spread of false information about Hong Kong.

Bamboo scaffolding retaining its structural integrity while fire ravaged through green netting in Hong Kong incident
byu/stardust15115 inDamnthatsinteresting

“This should be upvoted more because a lot of misinformation has been spread by both verified news sources and rumours online about how bamboo scaffolding heavily contributed to the fire’s spread. Yes, dry bamboo on its own can facilitate the spread of fire, but in Hong Kong we use treated bamboo that is heat resistant,” a user wrote before stating, “Bamboo has been used for decades in construction and fire incidents have been relatively unheard of only until recently when we have been getting a sudden increase in these incidents. I wonder why (sic).”

Blaming the green construction netting for fueling the fire, the user wrote: “In the case of this tragic fire, the green construction NETTING was at fault. The company did not use fire-resistant netting when refurbishing all SEVEN TOWERS AT ONCE (that probably isn’t supposed to be allowed) which just will make the flames spread so fast (sic).”

Does Bamboo Catch Fire?

A user shed light on a report published in the German daily tagesschau which quoted an expert who stated that bamboo had an “outer coating” that possessed fire-resistant properties. However, when the bamboo caught fire, the entire structure burned, causing the fire to spread upwards.

Why Bamboo Used In Construction?

Bamboo has been used as construction scaffolding in Hong Kong for generations.

Unlike a steel frame, bamboo is inexpensive, strong, and structurally flexible. A staple item used during construction in Asian countries, bamboo poles are tied together by workers manually using plastic straps, tagesschau added.

Green Netting And Styrofoam

A science YouTuber, “vt.physics” with over a million subscribers, noted that the green netting used during construction to keep debris from streets was not a safety hazard, as the mesh was required to be fire-retardant to meet the regulations.

Such netting burned with only minor charring, she added. She explained that high-quality netting only suffered minor charring when burned. The YouTuber warned, however, that cheap, substandard material used to cover construction sites would ignite instantly and burn fiercely, dripping molten fire, the behaviour reportedly seen in videos of recent high-rise fires in Hong Kong.

Reportedly, the residents of the housing complex, which consisted of almost 2,000 apartments, had complained about the substandard quality of the green netting used during the renovation of the eight towers erected in the 1980s.

Photo source: lihkg.com

Another Reddit user shared a purported listing of the apartment on a website that showed the bathroom windows covered with polystyrene board, which blocked the outside view, thereby leaving residents unaware of the fire spreading rapidly outside their respective towers.

The police also discovered Styrofoam, a highly flammable substance, attached to the windows on each floor near the elevator lobby.

Also Read: This Highly Flammable Material Might Have Worsened Hong Kong Fire That Killed 83

Styrofoam is the brand name for closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), a rigid insulation material widely used in construction for walls, roofs, and foundations. While people often use “Styrofoam” to refer to any white foam, the everyday disposable cups, packaging, and food containers are usually made of expanded polystyrene (EPS), a lighter, air-filled version of the same base material: polystyrene, which is a petroleum-based plastic.

But when Styrofoam burned, it released dense and toxic fumes.

A local pointed out that an unverified video showing construction workers taking a smoke break was “proof” that human error, along with the contractor’s negligence, played a pivotal role in what many were now labelling as a man-made disaster.

“This is not a accident, it was caused by humans
1. the construction workers were filmed having cigarettes while doing the construction
2. the material didnt follow fire regulations because most of the money got corrupted
3. they did the construction on 8 buildings at the same time , which wrapped 8 buildings and stuck styrofoam on all the windows
4. the humidity was at a record low (sic),” a YouTuber comment by a Hong Kong resident read.

In a separate, heated Reddit thread on the Subreddit r/HongKong, the locals expressed their anger over the stereotype propagated by “Western media” that portrayed Hong Kong as backwards in technology, which used bamboo for construction.