A scaffolding subcontractor at Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court estate had ordered batches of non-fire-retardant protective nets, according to a supplier’s statement released by the independent panel investigating the deadly blaze.
Lam Kee Construction Materials’ statement was among documents released on Wednesday by the independent committee investigating the causes of the fire in November, the city’s deadliest in decades.
The committee’s counsel and expert witnesses previously identified the use of non-compliant scaffolding mesh as a key factor behind the fire’s rapid spread. The blaze killed 168 people and displaced nearly 5,000 residents.
If fire-retardant materials had been used, the blaze might have self-extinguished at an early stage, according to the experts. Instead, flames spread quickly along the substandard mesh, producing burning droplets that ignited other sections of scaffolding and triggered secondary fires.
According to Lam Kee’s submission to the committee, it had received orders for protective nets from Gain Profit Shed Industry, the subcontractor responsible for erecting the scaffolding at Wang Fuk Court, but was unsure whether they had been used there.
“On October 27, 2025, Gain Profit ordered a batch of fire-retardant nets to be delivered to Wang Fuk Court from Lam Kee. For other orders, the client expressly stated that it did not need fire-retardant nets,” the document read.
