Nghe An: People panic as "burning village" continues to burn

Burning day and night

On the afternoon of June 9, while taking a nap at home, Mr. Nguyen Duy Tho heard a fire sizzling in the yard. Looking out, he saw that his family's straw house was on fire. Mr. Tho quickly ran to turn on the water pump, pulled the hose out into the yard and called for help from the villagers. In just a moment, many people in the neighborhood came to put out the fire. Thanks to the early detection, nearly half of the 1.5-acre straw pile was saved.

Arriving at Mr. Tho’s house after the fire, the smell of burnt straw was strong, ashes were flying everywhere, some wet straw was lying in front of the alley. Mr. Tho said: “My straw house is built close to the yard, covered with fibro cement, surrounded by a very tight fence, but it still burned. Luckily I was awake yesterday, otherwise all this straw would have burned down.”

Mr. Nguyen Duy Tho's straw pile caught fire at night. Photo: Huy Thu

Not long before, on May 28, at 10 p.m., Mr. Nguyen Van Ha's haystack, about 300 meters from Mr. Tho's house, also caught fire. At that time, Mr. Ha was sleeping, looking through the window and saw the fire rising high above his haystack. He immediately got up, panicked, went to pull the water pipe and called for help from the villagers. Mr. Ha's haystack was also partially saved.

As soon as the fire at Mr. Ha’s house ended, the Dong Van commune police saw flames rising high on the straw of Mr. Nguyen Duy Tho’s house. At that time, because the villagers were gathered at Mr. Ha’s house and discovered the fire at Mr. Tho’s house too late, they could not put out the fire, so they had to let Mr. Tho’s straw burn out. The next morning, May 29, Mrs. Thuy’s straw in front of Mr. Tho’s house caught fire again.

Saving straw in the "burning village". Photo: Huy Thu

According to statistics from local residents, in 2018, the “burning village” of Luan Phuong had 10 large and small fires, starting with the fire at Mr. Tran Dinh Mau’s house in March; mainly burning straw trees, straw houses, and even straw drying on the street.

The most serious fire occurred at Mrs. Tran Thi An’s house at the end of May. That day, Mrs. An was taking a nap when the fire caught on the mattress at the head of the bed, spread to the curtain, and filled the house with smoke. Fortunately, her daughter-in-law discovered it in time, so there were no casualties. The year before, Mrs. An’s wooden house was also completely burned down.

Since June 2016, there have been about 50 fires in Luan Phuong hamlet. The common feature of fires here is that they burn day and night, sometimes even in the rain. The most affected houses were 7, the most damaged houses were houses and cowsheds.

Many straw houses in the village were burned black. Photo: Huy Thu

The whole village went to send straw.

The fire was so fierce that the villagers had to find every way to cope. Every household that farmed had their pumps, hoses, buckets, and basins ready to fight the fire. Many households used boats to hold water and placed them in the haystacks. The village committee also sent people to ring the gong when a fire was detected. Some households even intended to install cameras...

The rebuilding of straw houses and sealing of walkways has also been noticed by the people. Mrs. Tran Thi Lien (59 years old) - a household whose straw house was burned twice said: Her family has just built a 16 m wide straw house.², cost 14 million VND, solid corrugated iron roof, surrounding the cow barn is also surrounded by B40 mesh. In the livestock area there are 4 layers of locks, making it very difficult for strangers to enter and exit.

The half-burned mattress of Mrs. Tran Thi An (85 years old). Photo: Huy Thu

The safest way for people is to send their straw to a warehouse. During the harvest season, they have to rush to load the straw onto trucks and send it to a warehouse. Currently, most of the farming and cattle-raising households in the village send their straw to relatives in neighboring villages.

Mrs. Le Thi Thu (69 years old) said: "My family has 6 sao of straw but only leaves half at home, built into 2 trees, the rest has to be stored. If we leave all the straw at home, what will we have to feed the buffalo and cows if it burns? The households that build solid straw houses in this village also have to store the straw."

The prolonged fire not only caused material damage but also made people panic and afraid, "not being able to eat well or sleep well". Ms. Tran Thi Lien confided: "Since the fire, people here have always been worried about burning straw and burning houses. When at home, working in the fields, and even when sleeping, they are always afraid of fires".

Build a sturdy straw house but don't dare to store too much straw for fear of fire. Photo: Huy Thu

2 years, cause of fire remains a mystery

The fire in Luan Phuong has been going on for 2 years now. Local authorities have taken many measures but have yet to find the cause of the fire.

At the peak of the fire, Dong Van Commune Police sent forces to be on duty 24/7 at the "burning village" to respond to the people. However, the day before, despite the presence of police forces at all levels, the fire in the village still occurred in an inexplicable way. The village had installed a surveillance camera system, but the cause of the fire was still not found.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thong - Head of Dong Van Commune Police said: Before the fire in Luan Phuong, the commune police and district police have intervened, but so far they have not found the cause. In recent meetings, the district police also urged and proposed specific plans, hoping to soon find the cause of the incident, to stabilize the lives of the people.