Deadly Hong Kong High-Rise Fire

By Alex Miller

On Wednesday, November 26, 2025, Wang Fuk Court, a 32-story high-rise residential apartment building in the Tai Po section of Hong Kong, went up in flames after a five-alarm fire broke out in the early afternoon.  Covered in bamboo scaffolding for repairs, the fire quickly spread throughout the complex, which houses some 4600 people.  As of 29 November, at least 128 persons are dead, including one firefighter, and many still missing.  The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Calls to report the conflagration came in at 2:51 PM HKT (1), and a chart cast for that moment describes the tragic incident in stark detail.  Mars is the planetary ruler of fire, and Pluto indicates total destruction, also known as the modern lord of death.  Mars (15 Sagittarius) is semisquare (45 degrees, denoting stress) Pluto (1 Aquarius), linking these two energies in disastrous combination.  An opposition (180 degrees) to asteroid Anubis (18 Gemini), named for the ancient Egyptian deity governing funerary rotes, with Anubis also sesquiquadrate (135 degrees) Pluto, suggests a lethal event.  Mars also conjoins asteroid Smolders (13 Sagittarius), perhaps suggesting a “slow burn” start to the fire, also alluding to the aftermath.

The death of the firefighter and the newsworthiness of the event is signaled by asteroid Hong Kong (13 Scorpio) conjoined asteroids Fireman (19 Scorpio) and Atropos (15 Scorpio), named for the mythic Greek Fate who severs the thread of life at death, and Mercury (21 Scorpio), ruling news.   This grouping lies on the fulcrum of a T-Square (2), squaring (90 degrees) both the Moon (10 Aquarius) and asteroid Burns (11 Leo).  Hong Kong identifies the city, the Moon rules places of residence, and Burns suggests the flames and destruction.

Three additional cosmic markers of fires and burning can be found in Angular (3) placement for the time of the first calls, with asteroid Flammeus (6 Cancer, for “flames”) conjoined the IC (11 Cancer) and asteroids Sparks with Burney (10 & 11 Libra, for “sparks” and “burning”) conjoined the Descendant (16 Libra).  Contacts to the Angles promote increased visibility and power or force for the associated bodies.  Burney is especially strong in this regard, being also exactly squared to the MC/IC axis (11 Capricorn/Cancer), linking it directly to three of four Angles, and thus a leading energy of the moment.

Also at the MC, the point of highest elevation in a chart and the focus of all eyes, is asteroid Icarus (7 Capricorn), noted for rash, reckless, foolhardy behaviors, such as the use of highly flammable bamboo for scaffolding, potentially allowing a fire to quickly engulf and enwreathe an entire structure.  Bamboo is being phased out as a construction material in Hong Kong, in accordance with recent local regulations, but the change has come too late for the residents of Wang Fuk Court.

Notes: (1)  https://www.reuters.com/world/china/fire-engulfs-residential-building-hong-kong-2025-11-26/

(2)  A T-Square is a dynamic pattern composed of two or more planets in opposition (180 degrees), each squared (90 degrees) a third.  It represents stress and conflict, with the fulcrum point (at the square) offering a possibility of resolution.

(3) The “Angles” are the cardinal directional points, where celestial bodies rise (Ascendant) and set (Descendant) at the horizon, or achieve highest (Midheaven, or MC) or lowest elevations (Nadir, or IC). Placement here signifies enhanced importance in character or biography.  The Ascendant affects our public image, how others see us; the Descendant involves how we relate to others; the MC governs status, reputation and place in the world; and the IC represents foundations, origins and the domestic environment.

Sources:  reporting from Reuters; chart data from serennu.com; graphic image by author

Title Image Credit:  drawn by ChatGPT