What is bamboo scaffolding and how did it worsen the Hong Kong fire?

Bamboo scaffolding, a centuries-old method that was traditionally ubiquitous successful Hong Kong, is nether scrutiny for its relation successful the city’s deadliest occurrence successful much than a century.

At slightest 55 radical person died, and hundreds are inactive missing since scaffolding astatine a lodging property successful Tai Po territory caught occurrence connected Wednesday, according to the latest authorities figures.

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Bamboo is cheap, lightweight, and beardown capable to withstand the city’s galore typhoons and tropical storms. Hundreds of bamboo poles tin often beryllium seen lashed unneurotic connected the broadside of a modern bureau tower.

But could 1 of Hong Kong’s iconic symbols besides person served arsenic the kindling for 1 of its astir horrific tragedies successful decades?

How is bamboo scaffolding used?

Buildings oregon lodging estates – similar the 1 successful Tai Po territory – encased successful bamboo during important renovation projects are not a uncommon show successful the city-state. Sometimes, the scaffolding tin stay up for a twelvemonth oregon more.

Bamboo scaffolding is built by speciality workers known arsenic “spiders”. They lash unneurotic bamboo poles to physique intricate grid-like scaffolding that is past typically covered successful further netting to drawback operation materials.

While the usage of bamboo has faded successful different parts of Asia, it has been hard to regenerate it wholly successful Hong Kong, adjacent with options specified arsenic metallic scaffolding, said experts.

“It’s light, inexpensive and accelerated to physique with,” Ehsan Noroozinejad, a elder researcher and operation adept astatine Western Sydney University, Australia, told Al Jazeera. “Crews transportation poles by hand, chopped them connected site, and wrapper awkward facades without cranes. That velocity and flexibility support projects moving and costs down.”

Because it is “light and casual to cut”, bamboo scaffolding besides fits the constrictive surviving situation of Hong Kong, said Xinyan Huang, lawman manager of the Research Centre for Fire Safety Engineering astatine Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

But determination are different reasons, too, wherefore bamboo is hard to replace.

“It [Hong Kong] has a agelong history, truthful it is simply a tradition, and it is not casual to alteration tradition,” Huang told Al Jazeera by email. “Any alteration successful the operation manufacture volition conscionable overmuch absorption from existent players.”

There are 4,000 bamboo scaffolding workers successful the city, Hong Kong Free Press reported, citing national figures, though the manufacture is connected the diminution acknowledgment to accrued contention from metallic scaffolding and an ageing cohort of workers.

A idiosyncratic builds bamboo scaffolding successful Hong Kong [File: Jerome Favre/EPA]

Is bamboo scaffolding dangerous?

Prior to the fire, astir concerns astir bamboo scaffolding person focused connected idiosyncratic safety.

There were 22 fatal workplace accidents involving bamboo scaffolding successful Hong Kong betwixt 2018 and 2024, according to authorities figures. Six accidents occurred portion caller scaffolding was being built, portion the remainder took spot during repairs.

Besides the information that bamboo is by its precise quality combustible, it is besides structurally weaker and little unchangeable than steel, according to Huang. He told Al Jazeera that it should beryllium phased retired for larger projects.

“I deliberation the bamboo scaffolding tin beryllium utilized for small-scale applications, specified arsenic installing an aerial conditioning portion and replacing a model of a room. However, the large-scale usage specified arsenic covering the full gathering facade should beryllium stopped. Perhaps, a maximum country of bamboo scaffolding tin beryllium defined successful aboriginal regulation,” helium said.

Workers acceptable up bamboo scaffolding successful mentation for removing the neon signs of a pawn store successful Sham Shui Po territory successful Hong Kong [File: Anthony Kwan/Getty Images]

What relation did bamboo scaffolding play successful the Tai Po fire?

The occurrence is the deadliest successful Hong Kong successful much than a century, since a blaze successful 1918 astatine the Happy Valley Racecourse successful British Hong Kong led to the deaths of much than 600 people.

Bamboo scaffolding played a large relation successful spreading the fire, according to experts similar Anwar Orabi, a lecturer successful occurrence information engineering astatine the University of Queensland, though it was helped by different materials successful the estate.

The occurrence broke retired connected the scaffolding of 1 of the estate’s towers connected Wednesday, but the velocity with which the occurrence dispersed took galore observers by surprise. Orabi said the plan of the scaffolding made it hard to support the blaze constricted to conscionable a fewer floors.

“In my constituent of view, the scaffolding presented a way for the occurrence to dispersed vertically which compromised compartmentation. The occurrence ‘climbed’ the scaffolding, and ignited the aggregate substance sources successful people’s homes,” helium told Al Jazeera by email.

“Fire tin interruption windows by imposing a beardown vigor flux [flow of heat] which heats up the solid and breaks it. It is besides imaginable that galore radical near their windows unfastened resulting successful ingress of the fire. This resulted successful a multi-storey fire,” helium said. Heat radiation and embers from 1 gathering helped dispersed the occurrence to the next, helium said, yet engulfing 7 towers.

Hong Kong officials besides accidental substandard operation materials were different contributing factor. The South China Morning Post reported that the netting placed implicit the scaffolding did not adhere to the occurrence code, citing section officials.

Senior constabulary superintendent Eileen Chung said highly flammable Styrofoam boards had besides been placed successful windows successful the lodging estate’s lifts, nationalist broadcaster RTHK reported, helping the occurrence spread.

Two directors and 1 engineering advisor from the institution down the operation person been detained, Chung confirmed.

Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee Ka-chiu, has promised that each lodging estates undergoing important improvements volition present beryllium inspected.

“The authorities has instantly arranged for inspections of each lodging estates crossed the metropolis undergoing large repairs, to analyse the information of scaffolding and gathering materials,” helium wrote connected Facebook.