Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee, Nguyen Hong Son, said the fire started at 9.30 am on July 12 at the pine forest in Thuong Tan Loc Commune.
"Hundreds of soldiers were sent to work with forest rangers and local police to put out the fire and they managed to bring it under control by 5 pm," the official said. "However, due to the prolonged dry weather, the fire broke out again in the evening and more forces had to be sent."
According to local fire services, despite nearly 500 people being involved in firefighting efforts, they failed to prevent the spreading flames from rising between 5-7 metres high.
"The fire was finally controlled around 3 am this morning, July 13, but all the pine forest spanning nearly 20 hectares had been burnt down," local fire police said.
Nghe An has been facing severe heat waves recently, posing major threats of forest fires.
