So many issues here.

For starters, the use of bamboo scaffolding, a long tradition in China.

Then to cover the scaffolding and prevent ~things falling~ from hurting nearby people, the scaffolding was wrapped in a green mesh. That mesh should have been fire-resistant.

Also, to protect windows, a plastic foam was placed over them. Styrofoam or something like it. That also should have been fire-resistant.

There seems to be a question regarding the fire-resistance of those materials.

But my question, at this point, OK, so there may have been a fire on the outside of the building. Why did the fire seem to spread internally?

I remember my college dorm room. The wall between our room and the adjacent room was cinder block.

What are the building codes in the area regarding the prevention of fire spread within the building?

From the article in #4 ...

... Though the origin of the fire was unclear, investigators were focusing on the bamboo scaffolding and green netting that surrounded the towers at Wang Fuk Court as renovations were carried out.

Experts said they appeared to help flames leap from building to building as the blaze grew into an inferno that engulfed seven of the estate's eight towers.

Chan said: "Our preliminary view is that the fire spreading so fast is likely related to these materials. But ... whether that is actually the case, we have to wait for our fire investigation colleagues to conduct an investigation to confirm." ...

How did the fire start?

Was it arson?

A spark from a faulty electrical system?

Someone ~lighting up~ and throwing a lit match in a wrong place?

And, as I noted above, why did it seem to spread so quickly within the apartment complex?

Too many unanswered questions at this point.

There are people in the upper floors who have not yet been rescued, trying to stay alive as the building below them looks to be going up in flames.