Shek Kip Mei fire – the most devasting in Hong Kong’s history, started by an ”industrial” accident

HF: At Christmas 1953, Hong Kong changed forever. Around 9.30p.m. on the evening of the 25th December, a bucket of molten rubber was accidentally knocked over in the shanty town on Shek Kip Mei. Fire quickly spread through the wooden huts and rudimentary buildings of this vast squatter settlement. By the time the last flames were extinguished, two people were dead, and more than 53,000 were left homeless.(1)

After the fire the governor Alexander Grantham launched a public housing programme to introduce the idea of ”multi storey building” for the immigrant population living there. The standardised new structures offered fire and flood-resistant construction to previously vulnerable hut dwellers. The programme involved demolishing the rest of the makeshift houses left untouched by the fire, and the construction of the Shek Kip Mei low-cost Housing Estate in their stead. Alongside a huge volunteer effort, the council spent nearly HK$16 million in relief work. (2)

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Sources:

1. zolimacitymag.com
2. Wikipedia