As of 10:00 a.m. on July 3, the Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue (PCCC and CNCH) forces of Ho Chi Minh City Police were still handling the scene of a major fire at a wood workshop of more than 500 square meters in Binh Hung Commune, Ho Chi Minh City.
The fire broke out at around 4:30 a.m. the same day, when a fire suddenly appeared inside a wood workshop deep in an alley on Pham Hung Street.
Mr. Chung - a resident living on Pham Hung Street - recounted that he was sleeping when he heard a loud explosion, then the power grid in the area was turned off. When they woke up to check, they discovered a wood workshop near their house on fire fiercely.
"People ran out to the street to check and saw the wood workshop on fire. The fire was bright red with smoke billowing," said Mr. Chung.
According to information from local residents, the wood workshop was not operating at the time of the fire. Because the factory was located in the middle of a residential area, the large smoke emitted caused suffocation, forcing many people to evacuate far away to ensure safety.
Immediately after receiving the report, Ho Chi Minh City Police quickly dispatched many vehicles and dozens of firefighters and rescue police officers to the scene. Firefighters divided into many teams to approach and control the fire.
At nearly 9am the same day, although the fire had been extinguished, smoke continued to rise from the scene of the fire. The fire fighting force continued to control the fire to completely extinguish it to avoid causing the fire to re-ignite.
The cause and damage of the fire are being investigated.
