Forest burnt in Thanh Hoa Province
The body of a local man, named Mai, was found after a fire in early May swept through a forest in Ha Tinh Province. It is believed Mai was burning off vegetation to clear the land when it got out of control.
On May 27, a fire broke out in a forest area near Phu Gia Village and took 10 hours to contain, but it broke out again the next day, fanned by strong winds. Tra La and Tra Son villages had to be evacuated. The villages were saved, but hundreds of hectares of forest were lost.
On May 29, 1,000 people were asked to help to put out a fire in a pine forest. The fire fighters encountered difficulties due to strong wind and hot weather.
Hundreds hectares of forest burnt
"The high temperature at Do Luong District, which can reached 40 Celsius, may be the cause," said Nguyen Cong Chau, deputy head of Do Luong People's Committee.
The Forest Protection Department has raised the red fire flag warning across numerous counties, with Ha Tinh, Binh Dinh, Dong Nai provinces facing extreme fire risk.
The National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting said hot weather will likely abate May 31 and June 1 before returning in the northern region. Temperatures in the central and southern regions show no signs of going down.
The heat wave in May is the longest in 44 years.
