On November 26, a devastating fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court (宏福苑), a government housing estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district. The blaze swept through seven of the estate’s eight residential towers, killing at least 159 people and injuring dozens more.
It’s Hong Kong’s deadliest fire since 1948.
The 31-storey towers had been under renovation since July 2024, wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green safety netting, which is a common site across Hong Kong.
Video footage showed flames racing up the scaffolding with incredible speed, jumping from building to building. The fire tore through the compound so rapidly that many elderly residents — who made up 40% of the estate’s population — were trapped in their apartments.
Many survivors escaped through pure luck, as one interviewee explained:
“The only one at home at that time was my son, who happened to go downstairs to get something to eat for a break from gaming, thus narrowly escaping the disaster.” [1]
唯一一个在家的是儿子，他正好游戏打累了，下楼找餐厅填肚子，躲过一劫。”[1]
Within days, police had arrested three personnel from the construction firm responsible for the renovation on suspicion of gross negligence (严重疏忽) and manslaughter (误杀). At least another six arrests have been made since. The management company’s offices were raided, and Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency have launched an investigation.
Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang (邓炳强) said in a press conference:
During the operation, firefighters discovered that the protective netting, protective screens, waterproof tarpaulins and plastic sheets on the exterior walls of Wang Fuk Court burned far more intensely than compliant materials after catching fire, with a much faster rate of spread.
消防人员在行动期间，发现宏福苑大厦外墙的保护网、保护幕，以至防水帆布和塑料布，着火后的蔓延程度远较合规格物料猛烈，蔓延速度快。
Related
According to initial findings, the protective green netting likely didn’t meet fire safety standards. And polystyrene foam boards used to seal windows during the building work added further fuel to the flames.
However, fire safety experts suggest the cause is more likely to be human factors.
Residents say they’d been complaining for months about the contractor, alleging the firm used cheap netting instead of fire-resistant material, with a well-known idiom to make the point:
“to slack off work and cut materials”
偷工减料
In other words, cutting corners to save on cost.
To complicate matters further, government regulations for fire-resistant netting in Hong Kong are not mandatory legal requirements — they’re guidelines with limited penalties, often flouted by contractors.
According to residents, construction workers were often seen smoking while working on the bamboo scaffolding, and regularly left piles of loose (now believed to be flammable) netting on site. Many say when the fire broke out no alarm sounded — which apparently had been disabled by construction workers to avoid setting them off while smoking.
Away from scrutiny on the cause of the fire, the mobilisation of Hong Kong society was another theme in the media coverage.
Many people spontaneously volunteered to support survivors. At Tai Po Market Station — just a ten-minute walk from Wang Fuk Court — young volunteers gathered to receive donations, sorting and distributing them to displaced residents.
A 30-year-old software engineer created an app in 30 minutes to help record missing persons and survivors. Within three days, it recorded over 100 million data requests from approximately 300,000 users.
Now, in the aftermath of the disaster, survivors remain in shock, having lost everything:
“What has happened cannot be changed.
There’s nothing to be done. Material things no longer matter much to me.
But so many neighbours are gone and that is the hardest part...”
“来的事，改变不了。没得改变。物质的东西，已经看淡。好多街坊走了…最难过是这一个。” [1]
Favourite Five
1. 失火 shī huǒ
accidental fire, catch fire
26日那天得知失火的消息，小雪赶到家已经是三点多 - When she heard the news of the fire on the 26th, Xiaoxue rushed home and it was already past three. [1]
Related:
起火 qǐ huǒ - catch fire, ignite
着火 zháo huǒ - catch fire, be on fire
2. 竹棚 zhú péng
bamboo scaffolding
香港绝大多数工地仍使用传统的竹制脚手架，在当地被称为“鹰架”或“竹棚” - Most construction sites in Hong Kong still use traditional bamboo scaffolding, which locals call “yingjia” or “zhupeng”. [2]
Related:
鹰架 yīng jià - scaffolding
脚手架 jiǎo shǒu jià - scaffolding (Mainland term)
3. 偷工减料 tōu gōng jiǎn liào
cut corners, skimp on materials
在实践中，施工方对阻燃保护网“偷工减料”的情形并不鲜见 - In practice, it is not uncommon for the contractor to cut corners on fire-retardant safety nets. [2]
4. 死灰复燃 sǐ huī fù rán
rekindle, flare up again
零星的火光在残破的单位内部持续燃烧，有时死灰复燃 - Small flames continued burning inside the damaged blocks, and sometimes the fire was reignited. [5]
5. 一发不可收拾 yì fā bù kě shōu shi
once it starts, it gets out of control
火势便会蔓延到附近房屋，导致一发不可收拾 - The fire would then spread to nearby blocks, and the situation would quickly spiral out of control. [2]
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This week on the RTM Advanced podcast, we explain essential news-language you need to know to understand and discuss this story.
And the subtle differences between them, and the correct collocations to use:
“major fire” (大火) vs. “fire disaster” (火灾)
“fire situation/intensity” (火势) vs. “fire conditions” (火情)
“to catch fire” (着火) vs. “ignite” (起火) vs. “catch fire” (失火)
Tune in at 7 minutes where we break down what they mean and the stories behind them…
How native speakers use them…
And how you can use them in real conversations right now.
Consuming the Conversation
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Useful words
6. 遇难 yù nàn
perish, die in an accident
她的一个好友遇难，另外四个还没有音讯 - One of her friends died, and there’s still no news about the other four. [1]
7. 物资 wù zī
supplies, materials
市民捐来的物资太多 - The supplies donated by the public were overwhelming. [1]
8. 逃生 táo shēng
escape, flee for one’s life
一些人是靠邻居敲门，才有机会逃生 - Some people only had the chance to escape because their neighbors knocked on their doors. [1]
9. 火势 huǒ shì
fire, fire intensity
正规的阻燃保护网遇火之后不易燃烧，能够防止火势沿脚手架蔓延 - Fire-retardant safety netting that meets the standard is not flammable, which can prevent the fire from spreading along the scaffolding. [2]
10. 围标 wéi biāo
bid-rigging
旧房维修中频繁出现“围标”事件 - Bid-rigging frequently occurs during the renovation of old buildings. [3]
11. 弥漫 mí màn
pervade, fill the air
从日至夜，整个社区弥漫着刺鼻的气味 - An acrid smell blacketed the entire community from morning through night. [4]
蔓延 màn yán - to spread (fire)
12. 支援 zhī yuán
support, aid
也没吃早餐，想尽快过来支援他们 - He didn’t even have breakfast because he wanted to help out as quickly as possible. [4]
