Dried grass easily catches fire.
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Cuong, head of the HCMC Department of Forestry Management said, “The risk of fire in Ho Chi Minh City is at a high alert level of 4 and 5.” According to the department’s statistics, there are about 37,000 hectares of forest in the area of HCMC but recently, fires have consumed dozens of hectares. The People’s Committee held a meeting and directed local authorities to carefully supervise areas that are currently in high risk of fire.
On March 16 four fires occurred in Ho Chi Minh City and burnt thousands of square metres of pasture into ashes. The fires did not injure anyone or cause damage to any properties, and were believed to be caused by prolonged spells of dry, hot weather and strong winds. The local people were very concerned and hundreds of people did everything they could in order to prevent the fires from reaching their houses, a construction site and the forest nearby. At the same time they informed the fire brigade of District Nine.
It took 30 minutes for the fire fighters to control the first and to prevent it from spreading to other areas. They were then immediately informed that another fire had occurred inside the campus of HCMC National University (Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc District). The flames started around 4pm and quickly spread, frightening many students. The Fire brigade of District Nine again had to divide their numbers in half and send half to go and control this fire from spreading.
Not even able to catch their breaths, the fire brigade of District Nine once again was informed of another fire occurring on Luong Dinh Cua Road, District Two. The burning area is a former cemetery with the grass having grown to the height of a person and close to hundreds of households.
Four fire trucks with more than 30 fire fighters were called to the scene and the fire was stopped before it reached the district’s housing areas. It was reported however, another fire occurred in Hiep Binh Thanh Ward, Thu Duc District.
The fire on La Xuan Oai Road (District Nine) threatened the forest and hundred of families living nearby.
Pastures consumed by flames.
Fire fighters struggled to control the blazes.
