An investigation into the deadly fire of Kaohsiung's Chengzhongcheng Building show that the large number of scooters parked on the first floor caused the fire to burn more intensely.
Forty-six people died after Chengzhongcheng Building in Kaohsiung caught fire on Oct. 14. Several days later, residents and family members could be seen entering the building to collect their belongings. The Kaohsiung City Government established a task force to determine the cause of the fire and assign responsibility. On Oct. 18, it investigated at the scene along with professors from Central Police University and National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology. It was reported they identified the reasons for the disaster. They were the 50 or so scooters parked on the first floor that helped the fire to continue burning, as well as the lack of fire doors inside the building, the majority of which had been torn down. The two professors declined to confirm this information.
Chengzhongcheng Building Resident："Those doors disappeared a long time ago. (They disappeared a long time ago?) It wasn't a recent occurrence. (They were already gone when you moved in?) Yes. People took them in the middle of the night."
Residents said many of the fire doors had disappeared a long time ago. A layout diagram showed that a first floor courtyard was where 50 or so scooters were parked. The elevators and stairs by the scooters lacked fire doors or only had wooden doors, allowing the smoke and flames to consume the escalators, elevators, and stairwells and resulting in the high number of casualties.
Voice of Lin Chin-hung, Disaster Management Specialist："The fire doors weren't able to block the smoke and heat, and of course, this is a very important reason for the high number of casualties. As for the scooters, the fire should swell when they are ignited because fire needs fuel. Smoke only needs heat to spread to every corner. Smoke is also very pervasive."
Many of the victims were killed by smoke inhalation. The city government is still examining the issue of the missing fire doors and whether there is a connection. Committees tasked with inspecting old buildings conducted a second day of inspections and removed objects blocking escape routes on Oct. 19 hoping to avert another tragedy.
高雄城中城大火造成多人死傷，一早還是有住戶以及家屬進入火場取物，為釐清火警的責任歸屬，市府組成行政調查小組，18號連同警大教授及高科大教授等人，一起回火場勘查，也疑似找到災害主因，是一樓停放50輛機車形成火災時的助燃物，以及大樓內部的防火門都被拆除，無法有效防災，但參與兩位學者都不願證實。
城中城住戶表示：「門老早就不見了。(早就不見了喔！) 那不是最近的事了。（你搬進來時，就沒了嗎？) 對，半夜人家拿的。」
住戶說，的確許多防火門很多早就不見了，透過內部結構圖可以看到一樓中庭就是停放機車的區域，數量至少50台，摩托車燃燒後一旁的電梯、樓梯都沒有防火門，或是只用木門遮蔽，也使得濃煙跟火，不斷的往手扶梯、樓梯、電梯竄上去， 釀成嚴重傷亡。
災害管理師 林金宏表示：「防火門，它沒有辦法阻煙熱，當然是很重要，很重要！造成傷亡的因素。那機車呢，它如果被引燃的時候，它的火會變得很大，火必須要有燃料，可是煙只要，今天它只要燒起來的時候，它只要有熱量，它就可以把他帶到每一個角落，而且煙是無孔不入的。」
城中城火災死者，不少人因濃煙嗆死，防火門被拆是不是主因，市府還要調查，但怕憾事重演，19號老舊無管委會大樓體檢第二天，也持續拆除 阻擋逃生的障礙物。