A large forest fire broke out at 8.30 am last Saturday in a planted forest area belonging to Mr Luong Van Dung from Hoa Hai Village in Hoa Vang District’s Hoa Phu Commune.  Strong winds, combined with the hot and dry conditions, caused the fire to spread rapidly into sub-region 53 of Da Nang’s Ba Na-Nui Chua special use forest.

About 1,000 military personnel and firefighters battled for control of the fire, which seemed to be finally contained by Sunday morning.  However, by 3.30pm that day some fires had flared up again in areas around the site.  Thanks to the great efforts of the firefighters, the blaze was finally extinguished after 2 more hours, but the burned area was still filled with smoke.

To avoid any recurrence, another 200 military personnel and firefighters spent the evening stamping out the smouldering embers.

The scene of the fire at Ba Na-Nui Chua special-use forest

Initial estimates show that at least 100ha of special-use forest in sub-region 53, on the southern side of Ba Na Mountain, were totally destroyed.

The incident was caused by the illegal burning of vegetation near the forest.  Further investigations will be carried out and strict punishments will be imposed on violators in accordance with the law.