28 Nov 2025集誌社#7606
宏福苑五級火｜一年內四宗棚架火 盤點香港火災事 多與竹棚和圍網被點燃有關
A painful lesson—one fire is one too many. Before the fatal No. 5 alarm fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, Hong Kong had already recorded at least four fires this year related to scaffolding and protective netting. After a No. 3 alarm fire involving bamboo scaffolding at Chinachem Tower in Central last month, the Buildings Department issued a notice reiterating that materials used with scaffolding must meet flame-retardancy requirements and reminding contractors to check whether protective nets used at construction sites complied with specifications. It said serious action would be taken against violations, but this did not prevent the fatal fire in Tai Po. Following the fire, organisations from various sectors initiated the formation of the “Wang Fuk Court Victims’ Rights Alliance” to help victims pursue claims and provide views on the government’s review.
血的教訓，一宗嫌多，早在大埔宏福苑發生奪命五級火之前，香港今年已最少發生四宗與棚架和圍網相關的火警，上月在中環華懋大廈發生的竹棚三級火之後，屋宇署曾發通告，重申涉及棚架使用的物料，必須能阻燃等要求，提醒承建商要檢查工地所採用的保護網是否符合規格，若發現有人違規，會嚴肅處理，但仍無法阻止大埔的奪命火災發生。今次火災後，多個不同界別的組織，發起組成「宏福苑受災者權益聯盟」，協助受災者追討之外，也希望就政府的檢討提供意見。
28 Nov 2025集誌社#7608
宏福苑五級火｜竹棚成代罪羊？ 資深師傅平反：竹棚工藝規格高，係藝術品
Following the Level Five fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, the government has revived the proposal to replace bamboo scaffolding with metal scaffolding, while overseas media have focused on the risks of bamboo scaffolding. Ka Chun (SAB) Lee, a scaffolding master with more than 30 years in the trade, defended bamboo scaffolding, saying it originated in Guangdong and has a history of more than a century. He said bamboo contains moisture and has a certain degree of fire resistance, and ultimately believed the incident was related to negligence in project management.
Master Lee said scaffolding collapses had occurred repeatedly in recent years, and the government had proposed several times replacing bamboo scaffolding with metal scaffolding. He also said the mainland had in recent months begun preventing raw materials from being transported to Hong Kong: “Fir timber can no longer come to Hong Kong, forcing me recently to use steel tubes to make up for the shortfall when building opera stages, which has made the entire stage lose its authenticity; it seems that later even bamboo may not be allowed to be transported to Hong Kong. If that is true, there will not even be bamboo scaffolding.” He said about 70% of Hong Kong’s construction sites used bamboo scaffolding, so it would be difficult to switch entirely to metal scaffolding at once. Metal scaffolding required less craftsmanship but involved greater physical exertion, and he believed the industry’s thousands of bamboo-scaffolding workers would find it difficult to retrain, with some potentially being eliminated and facing unemployment. He stressed that Hong Kong had inherited bamboo-scaffolding craftsmanship with high standards, and that bamboo scaffolding was regarded as an art form and “worth continuing.”
大埔宏福苑發生五級火，政府重提以金屬棚架取代竹棚架，外媒則關注竹棚風險。入行超過 30 年的搭棚師傅李家俊為竹棚「平反」，指竹棚沿自廣東省，歷史過百年，竹材内含有水份，有一定礙燃性，歸根究柢，他認為是與工程管理疏忽有關。
李師傅指，近年屢有棚架倒塌意外，政府已多次提出以金屬架取代竹棚，又提到內地近月更開始不讓原材料運港：「杉木已不可以嚟香港，害我最近搭戲棚要用鋼通來補救不足，變成整個戲棚失咗真；好似遲啲連竹也不准運來香港，如果屬實，就連竹棚都無喇。」他提到，香港約七成地盤都用竹棚，要一時間全部轉用金屬棚架會較困難；而金屬棚手藝含量低、體力消耗大，相信業内數千名竹棚師傅轉型不易，最終或遭淘汰，面臨失業。他強調香港傳承了竹棚工藝，規格水平高，竹棚被視作藝術品、「係值得做落去」。
Translations are supplied by the source workbook. Consult the original reporting for context.
