The Chinese authorities announced on November 29 a national campaign to inspect and rectify fire hazards in these buildings, especially those undergoing external and internal wall renovations. -- PHOTO: EPA via The Straits Times/ANN
BEIJING (The Straits Times/ANN): Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has sparked concern in the mainland about fire safety in high-rise residential and public buildings, of which there are more than a million in China.
The Chinese authorities on Nov 29 announced a national campaign to inspect and rectify fire hazards in these buildings, especially those that are undergoing external and internal wall renovations. Chinese media have framed the campaign as coming on the back of the Hong Kong blaze.
Hong Kong officials have said that the use of highly flammable foam board in renovation work contributed to the rapid spread of the fire that engulfed seven of eight 31-storey residential blocks in the north-eastern district of Tai Po.
More than 150 people have been reported to have died in the fire that took nearly two days to extinguish. The city’s authorities also said checks on the fire alarms in the eight blocks found they were not working properly.
The Nov 29 notice by China’s State Council’s Work Safety Commission requires “relevant enterprises and units” in all regions to conduct self-inspections and government bodies to do random spot checks to prevent the inspections from “becoming a mere formality”.
They have to check whether prohibited materials – such as bamboo scaffolding and non-fire resistant safety nets – are used; whether fire hydrants and water sprinklers are working; as well as ensure there are no exposed wires that could form potential hazards, among other things.
Xu Chuansheng, who sits on the science popularisation committee of the China Fire Protection Association, told Southern Weekly, a Guangzhou-based newspaper, that although residential buildings may have facilities such as indoor fire hydrants and automatic fire alarm systems, the pipe and pump networks that supply water might be broken due to their age.
“When there’s no emergency, people don’t think the water from fire hydrants is important, so they’re unwilling to pay (for maintenance),” he told the newspaper in an article published on Nov 28.
High-rise building fires in China have climbed. There are more than a million such residential buildings in China which are at least eight storeys tall.
In 2023, 23,000 high-rise building fires were reported in China – an increase of 35 per cent from 2022. Such fires accounted for 2.6 per cent of all fires in 2023, the last year in which full-year statistics are available.
In 2024, China’s National Fire and Rescue Administration reported that external insulation materials were a major contributing factor to several high-rise building fires.
According to local media reports, China began to use exterior wall insulation materials in the 1980s, but it was only in 2009 that relevant regulations on the fire-resistance levels of such materials for civil buildings were first issued.
Polystyrene foam boards, which are highly flammable, were commonly used in the past. Such materials are no longer allowed as insulation layers under China’s General Code for Building Fire Prevention, which took effect in June 2023.
While some Chinese netizens have applauded the national rectification campaign, others are more sceptical.
“Not only high-rise buildings require scrutiny, but in our low-rise residences (lower than eight storeys) built in the 1990s, where mostly elderly people live, the fire hoses have not been changed in 30 years,” said a top comment by a Guangdong-based user on a media report on the latest national campaign. “The property management is ineffective. When something goes wrong, who should we blame?” - The Straits Times/ANN
