We failed to check if workers smoked at Wang Fuk Court, firms tell fire hearing

Two renovation subcontractors involved in a HK$336 million (US$42.9 million) project at a subsidised estate ravaged by Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades have conceded they did not regulate workers’ smoking behaviour before the inferno.The two engineering firms on Thursday also told an independent committee that they had partially replaced fireproof windows at Wang Fuk Court’s evacuation passages with movable wooden boards to allow workers’ easy access to scaffolding at the behest of main contractor Prestige Construction and Engineering.Ng Pui-kwan, whose company received more than HK$8 million for works carried out at three of eight towers at the housing estate, acknowledged that the move was unnecessary. But he said he had not known that removing the windows would pose a danger to the buildings.The committee previously heard that toxic smoke could have gushed into the buildings’ emergency staircases through the temporary openings and prevented some residents from escaping.Ng said he had told his workers not to smoke on bamboo scaffolding, but had no idea if they had followed his instructions.The witness also admitted to using polyfoam boards to cover windows for the first time during Wang Fuk Court’s project without knowing if they were fire-retardant.