1996 Garley building fire

Infobox News event


caption=
date= start date|1996|11|20
time=
place=Kowloon, Hong Kong
casualties1=41 deadRTHK. " [http://gbcode.rthk.org.hk/han3/2/1/1/0/0/0/0/www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/tv/thepulse/20080815.html RTHK gbcode] ." "Cornwall Court Fire Tragedy; Bill Gates in Hong Kong; Shopaholics ." Retrieved on 2008-09-28.]
casualties2=81 injuredHKStandard. " [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=50156&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19961122&sear_year=1996 The Standard.com] ." "Inferno toll 39 dead, 81 injuries." Retrieved on 2008-09-28.] The 1996 Garley building fire was a fire incident that took place on November 20, 1996 in the 16-story Garley commercial building (zh-t|t=嘉利大廈) on Nathan Road, in Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong.HKStandard. " [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=57572&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19961204&sear_year=1996 The Standard.com] ." "Rescuers haunted by blaze trauma." Retrieved on 2008-09-28.] It was a catastrophe that caused the loss of 41 lives and 81 injuries. It is considered the greatest building fire in Hong Kong during peacetime. Curiously, the fire damaged the bottom two floors and the top three floors of the building, while the middle floors remained relatively intact.

The Garley Building

History

The building was built in 1975 before the government introduced laws requiring all commercial buildings to install sprinkler systems.HKStandard. " [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=50162&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19961122&sear_year=1996 The Standard.com] ." "Survivors recount their horror ; Workers relive escape from blaze." Retrieved on 2008-09-28.] The land lot was bought by Kai Yee Investment Company Ltd in 1970 when it cost just $1.56 million.HKStandard. " [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=50204&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19961122&sear_year=1996 The Standard.com] ." "700 office blocks could be deathtraps." Retrieved on 2008-09-28.]

Fire

At the time of the fire, the Garley Building was undergoing internal renovation, in which new elevators were to be installed; one had been completely refurbished, with another almost completed. The other two elevator shafts in the building had had their elevators removed, and bamboo scaffolding installed within the shaft. The fire-resistant elevator doors were also removed to allow light into the elevator shaft so welders could see clearly. The welding was revealed to be the source of the fire.

The welding activity routinely triggered alarms from the building's smoke detectors, so much so that staff at the China Arts and Crafts store that occupied the bottom three floors had wrapped plastic around the fire alarms to muffle the sound. Furthermore, the welders were found to have, contrary to building codes, also cut metal with a welder. 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. It was, in fact, a welder who discovered the fire, and alerted the fire department. A second emergency call would be made minutes later, when a dental assistant on the 13th floor discovered dense smoke in the hallway.

The fire consumed the bamboo scaffolding, and, combined with the open elevator shaft providing a source of fresh air, provided a chimney effect that eventually rose to the 13th floor, starting another fire there. Remains were found on the 13th and 14th floor. A workshop run by Chow Sang Sang Jewellery that occupied two rooms on the 15th floor had 22 bodies.

When firefighters first arrived at the scene ten minutes after the lower fire had started, the fire was rated at one-alarm. It was almost immediately raised to three-alarm when heavy smoke impeded firefighters' process up higher floors. By the time reinforcements arrived, it was upgraded to five-alarm fire, the most severe level in Hong Kong.

Rescue effort

All in all, over 200 firemen and 40 engines were deployed. [HKStandard. " [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=57646&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19961206&sear_year=1996 The Standard.com] ." "20 firemen in line to receive honour." Retrieved on 2008-09-28.] A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was also deployed to rescue people trapped on the roof, but quickly left after rescuing four people as it was feared that the rotating helicopter blades were making the fire worse. The role of the helicopter was later studied. [HKStandard. " [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=58711&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19961214&sear_year=1996 The Standard.com] ." "Helicopter role study." Retrieved on 2008-09-28.]

With the elevators unusable and the staircases impassable due to the smoke, firefighters had difficulty reaching the upper levels of the building, relying on four rescue ladders to rescue occupants who had opened the windows for fresh air. The flame was finally put out after 21 hours. In total 41 people had died, and one firefighter was killed after accidentally falling into an elevator shaft. Another person eventually died several months later after entering a coma as a result of the fire. Another 80 people were injured, including 14 firemen.

Aftermath

HK Governor Chris Patten urged legislators to speed up the passage of a bill aimed at upgrading the fire safety standards of some 500 premises across the territory. A special police team of 229 officers was been brought in for the first time in 10 years to help with identifying the bodies.

Later census figures show there are 60,000 private buildings in the HK territory with half at more than 20 years old. Of these, 723 are commercial. More than 700 office blocks built 20-plus years ago under more lenient safety laws could be deathtraps, experts warned yesterday.

The Chow Sang Sang Jewellery Company, which lost 22 employees on the 15th floor, increased its relief fund to $8+ million. Each victim's family received an initial $180,000 and another sum equivalent to 17.8 months' basic salary. [HKStandard. " [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=50255&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19961124&sear_year=1996 The Standard.com] ." "Firm raises relief fund to $8million." Retrieved on 2008-09-28.] For this incident much of the blame fell on the welders and occupants of the building, who were not properly trained in fire drills and knew little about building evacuation procedures. As a result of the fire, building regulations were quickly revised to prevent this sort of disaster from occurring again - indeed, since the revisions, there has not been a single year in which more than ten people have died from fires.

Cultural references

The Discovery Channel series "Blueprint for Disaster" documented the events of the fire and subsequent investigation, labeling it the "Hong Kong Inferno".

Reconstruction

The Garley Building was abandoned after the fire, but was not demolished until 2003, due to the difficulty of finding the owners of the businesses within. The original landlord of the building, China Resources Enterprise, originally intended to construct a "Ginza-style" shopping mall at the site, but later changed plans to build a new office building. Work on the building was completed in 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.info.gov.hk/police/offbeat/754/eng/n04.htm A varied and interesting career] . Interview with Senior Superintendent Chan Chin-cheung, in "Offbeat", the internal magazine of the Hong Kong Police, issue 754.