Professor W.K. Chow JP FHKEng will present on "Several Aspects on the Big Fire in Hong Kong"
A big fire occurred in a tall residential complexes in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on 26 November, 2025. Seven of the eight tall buildings under refurbishment were affected. Bamboo scaffolding and safety netting were erected around all building facades. The burning duration was over about 44 hours. This fire is considered the deadliest in Hong Kong in at least 63 years. Investigation started after controlling the fire. Highly flammable styrofoam cloaking lift windows was found on every floor. The foam was suspected to spread fire rapidly.
Key aspects of the recent big fire in Hong Kong will be discussed based on limited information available. Several insights gained from observations outside, and occasional news released by the government will be reported. Better fire safety management is proposed to avoid having similar fire in future.
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Presenter: Professor W.K. Chow JP FHKEng, BSc, MST, PhD, CEng, FCIBSE, R.P.E, FHKIE, Life FSFPE, FASME, FASHRAE, CPEng, MIE(Aust), MACS, MIFireE
Professor Wan Ki Chow is currently the Advisor to President and Distinguished Chair Professor in Aviation Safety at Civil Aviation Flight University of China (CAFUC), and an Emeritus Professor (Architectural Science and Fire Engineering) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). Before retired from PolyU in 2019, he was a Chair Professor of Architecture Science and Fire Engineering and Head of the Department of Building Services Engineering; and then joined CAFUC with much stronger research support in 2024.
He works in Building Services Engineering in Fire for 45 years and graduates over 100 PhD students at various universities. He is also active in fire engineering consultancy projects.
He is also a Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering and a Non-Official Justice of the Peace appointed by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. He is the Founding President of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE)-Hong Kong Chapter since 2002, and the President of the Asia-Oceania Association for Fire Science and Technology since 2007. He was elected to be Chair of SFPE Asia-Oceania Chapters Coordinating Group in 2015 and a member of the Board of Directors of the SFPE from 2016 to 2019. He was awarded the Lifetime Contribution Award by the Asia-Oceania Association for Fire Science and Technology, Gold Medal of the HKIE and First Prize of Natural Science Award of Anhui Province, China.
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