A corner on Tuesday gave a verdict of accidental death on the four people who died in the 2011 To Kwa Wan blaze.
After handing down his ruling, Coroner Michael Chan Pik-kiu advised the administration to take the initiative to strengthen fire safety measures at old tenement buildings.
Summer Tse Yan-yee, 18, Huang Jianhuan, 37, and her sons Lai Chun-hin, six, and 16-month-old Lai Chun-tak died in the fire at 111-113 Ma Tau Wai Road that started at 3am on June 15. All died of severe burns.
Nineteen residents were also injured.
The court heard that the fire started in a ground-floor storeroom – in which various items, including two plastic billboards, flammable oil, unused wiring and newspapers – were kept.
A government chemist earlier said newspapers could have accelerated the fire’s spread.