Pine hill fire, suspected to be caused by people visiting graves to burn incense

Strong winds caused the fire to spread rapidly on Da Cao Mountain. Photo: Huy Thu

According to local people, the fire broke out at around 4pm on Da Cao Mountain in Hamlet 12, bordering Hamlet 13, Nghi Tien Commune. This mountain is mainly planted with pine, cajuput and eucalyptus trees, and due to the many dry leaves, it is prone to fire in the hot season. When people discovered the large fire, the fire had spread widely on the mountain, along with strong winds that were quite dangerous.

Militia, youth union members and people actively put out the fire. Photo: Huy Thu

Immediately after receiving the news, Nghi Tien commune mobilized militia and youth union members to coordinate with people in hamlets 12 and 13 to contain and extinguish the fire.

At Da Cao mountain, bringing water up the hill is quite difficult, so people mainly use tree branches to put out the fire, rake dry leaves, and block off fire-resistant areas...

The cause of the fire may have been due to people visiting the graves to burn incense. Photo: Huy Thu

Thanks to the prompt intervention of the authorities and people, after 1 hour of actively extinguishing the fire, the fire was controlled. About 0.5 hectares of pine and cajuput trees were burned down.

The initial cause of the fire was determined to be people visiting graves to burn incense. In the middle of a pine hill full of dry leaves, hot sun, strong wind, the incense spread around and caused the fire.