The legal team for an independent committee has called for bamboo scaffolding to be gradually replaced by metal alternatives following its inquiry into the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po.
The recommendations were detailed in 627 pages of closing submissions filed on Friday by the committee’s lawyers. The submissions concluded hearings that began in March into the blaze at Wang Fuk Court last November.
That fire killed 168 people and displaced about 5,000 residents. The lawyers urged authorities to explore, and possibly fund, a transition away from bamboo scaffolding and combustible plastic wraps because evidence showed pyrolysis in the bamboo had contributed to the fire’s intensity and upward spread.
The suggestion contrasted with earlier testimony from fire experts and firefighters, who noted that metal scaffolding could also deform under intense heat. Other proposals in the submissions included legislative reform and steps to reduce bid-rigging.
