Nghe An: 'Village on fire' still burning, people are insecure

(Baonghean.vn) - After a period of silence, the people of the "burned village" were less worried, but recently, the fire in Luan Phuong hamlet, Dong Van commune (Thanh Chuong) continued to rage.

Arriving at Mrs. Tran Thi Lien’s house - one of the two households whose straw was burnt on the night of August 25, everything was still in disarray. Her house had two straw piles, one old straw pile built in May, about 4 sao, this season, there was also a new straw pile under construction and a pile of straw that was not yet dry in the cowshed.

For a long time, because of the lurking fire, her house was always in a state of fear. “On the night of the 25th, around 12 o’clock, I had just fallen asleep when I heard a strange noise outside the wall. I lifted the curtain to look out and saw that the straw was on fire. I only had time to shout, “The straw is on fire, village!” - Mrs. Lien said.

Mrs. Tran Thi Lien was sad in front of a 4-acre straw pile that burned on the night of August 25. Now there is only a pile of wet straw left. Photo: Huy Thu

Mrs. Lien's family has a mother and daughter living together, working on 4 fields, raising 2 cows. She often cuts grass, saves straw for the cows to eat on cold rainy days. Unexpectedly, the fire burned down the straw. This is the second time her house has had a straw fire. The strange thing is that both times the straw inside burned heavily, but the pile of straw in the cow barn, not yet dry, Mr. Le Thanh Tung - Mrs. Lien's brother-in-law discovered a burn right next to the straw pile, but it was only as big as a grapefruit, not a big fire.

About 20 meters from Ms. Lien’s house, Mr. Le Xuan Luong’s house also caught fire in a straw house. Ms. Tran Thi Hoan (75 years old), Mr. Luong’s mother, said: “In the middle of the night, while sleeping, I heard a tire explosion. I thought it was nothing, but the whole family woke up and discovered the straw house was on fire. At that time, the smoke and fire were already thick.”

Mr. Le Xuan Luong's straw house caught fire on the night of August 25. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Luong’s straw house is near the entrance gate, the wood blocking the pigsty is charred, the roofing sheet is broken. In this straw house, Mr. Luong and his wife have stacked 7 sao of straw, both old and new, about half of which was burned, the rest was dragged out onto the street by people. This is the third time Mr. Luong’s house has had a straw fire, since last year.Mr. Le The Tuong (57 years old), Mr. Luong's neighbor, said: "When we put out the fire at Mr. Luong's straw house, it was still raining."

Talking about the fire on the night of August 25, Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh (73 years old), a neighbor of the two houses whose straw was on fire, said: That night, while I was sleeping, I heard an explosion behind my house. I jumped up and opened the window and saw that the fire had already spread high above Mrs. Lien's straw in front of her house. While calling the villagers and running to put out the fire, I did not know that Mr. Luong's house behind my house was also on fire. So at the same time, two households next to my house were on fire. Immediately after the fire, the district and commune police were present to investigate and find out the incident.

Ms. Le Thi Loan's 5-acre straw crop was almost completely burned on the night of August 22. Photo: Huy Thu

Four days earlier, on the night of August 22, Mr. Tran Van Huy's house also caught fire at the straw pile built near the entrance gate. Mr. Huy said that night, at 10 p.m., he and his wife returned from a relative's house in the neighborhood, the electric light next to the straw pile was still on. After sleeping for a while, they heard a sizzling sound in the garden, and looked through the window and were shocked to see that their straw pile had caught fire. Hearing the screams, the villagers came to actively put out the fire, but the straw had almost burned out. Next to Mr. Huy's house, two houses on either side (Le Vinh Quat, Le Nhu Hung) also had their cowsheds burned last year.

Mr. Tran Dang Giap - Deputy Secretary of the Luan Phuong hamlet Party Cell said that after the police installed surveillance cameras (late September 2016), fires decreased significantly, and villagers were less worried. Late last year, these cameras were removed. In 2017, especially since August 2017, fires were rampant again.

Fires in Luan Phuong hamlet are characterized by occurring at any time, regardless of night or day, rain or shine, sometimes even burning straw drying on the street. Houses burned down 4-5 times at most, the houses with the most damage were house fires and cowshed fires.

People in Luan Phuong hamlet are confused by the fires. Photo: Huy Thu

The fire is causing panic and fear among local people. Ms. Le Thi Loan, whose straw crop just caught fire, said: “Since the fire, we have not been able to eat well, sleep well, and are worried about our house burning down. Farmers need straw to feed their cows, but they are always worried about the fire. Moreover, we are not only worried about the straw burning, but also about the house burning down. We urgently ask the authorities to quickly find the cause of the fires.”

With the same worried mood, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Chuong - Chairman of Dong Van Commune People's Committee said: "Regarding the fire in Luan Phuong hamlet, the commune has focused on dealing with it, but it can be said that at this point, it is powerless, both the officials and the people are exhausted because of the fire. We request that the district and provincial levels take measures to support the locality in dealing with the fire that has lasted for more than a year now."

Huy Thu