Scandals and Disasters of Hong Kong by Frena Bloomfield

The fire consumed the bamboo scaffolding and the open elevator shaft provided a source of fresh air, creating a chimney effect that eventually rose to the 13th floor, starting another fire there. because the 15th floor was on fire, and was upgraded again to five-alarm-the highest level in Hong Kong, at 7:15 p.m. By the time reinforcements arrived, it was upgraded to four-alarm at 5:17 p.m. when heavy smoke impeded the firefighters' progress up to the higher floors. It was almost immediately raised to three-alarm at 4:59 p.m. When firefighters first arrived at the scene ten minutes after the lower fire had started, the fire was rated at one-alarm. A second emergency call was made one minute later, when a dental assistant on the 13th floor discovered dense smoke in the hallway. A welder discovered the fire, and alerted the fire department. Thus, when a stray piece of hot metal fell from the thirteenth floor, sparking a fire in the second floor lift lobby, no one paid much attention, believing that it was part of the normal welding activity. The welding activity routinely triggered alarms from the building's smoke detectors, so much so that staff at the China Arts & Crafts store that occupied the bottom three floors had wrapped plastic around the fire alarms to muffle the sound.įurthermore, workers were found to have cut metal with a welder, contrary to building codes. The fire-resistant outer elevator doors were also removed to allow light into the elevator shaft for the welders. One had been completely refurbished, with another almost completed the other two elevator shafts in the building had their respective elevators removed, and had bamboo scaffolding installed within their shafts. At the time of the fire, the Garley Building was undergoing internal renovation, during which new elevators were to be installed. Welding was revealed to be the source of the fire. – 14/F (IT Dept.), 15/F (Accounting Dept., IT Dept.) PolyGram (Hong Kong) – 10/F (Recording Studio), 12-14/F (Information Store).Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers – 6/F.A subsidiary of China Resources, Chinese Arts & Crafts, acquired half the building –from the basement to the ninth floor –for HK$35.5 million in 1989. The land lot was bought by Kai Yee Investment Company Ltd in 1970 at a cost of HK$1.56 million (US$200,000). The building was built in 1975 before the government introduced laws requiring all commercial buildings to install sprinkler systems. The fire damaged the bottom two floors and the top three floors of the building, while the middle floors remained relatively intact. It is considered the worst building fire in Hong Kong during peacetime. It was a catastrophe that caused 41 deaths and 81 injuries. The Garley Building fire took place on 20 November 1996 in the 16-storey Garley commercial building ( Chinese: 嘉利大廈) located at 232–240 Nathan Road, Jordan, Hong Kong.

Scandals and Disasters of Hong Kong by Frena Bloomfield