Many fire points appear near cemeteries
According to the Hue City Forest Protection Department, in just one peak day before Vu Lan festival, the whole city recorded more than 20 fires in cemeteries, tombs, forest edges and near residential areas. Among them, more than 13 cases were identified to be related to people burning votive paper when visiting graves.
The fire points mainly appear in places with grass and dry vegetation, located near forests. When encountering southwest winds, the fire can spread quickly on a large scale, threatening forest areas and neighboring residential areas.
In Hung Loc commune, a fire occurred in the post-harvest vegetation area, next to the grave area, spreading about 0.3ha. About 20 people were mobilized to put out the fire, then continued to cool down the scene to avoid re-ignition.
In the Tam Thai area (An Cuu ward), Hai Cat (Kim Long ward) and Thanh Thuy ward, functional forces also continuously detected and controlled grass and vegetation fire points, preventing the fire from spreading into the forest and residential areas.
Hundreds of turns of officers, soldiers and people were mobilized in the incidents, both fighting the fire, clearing the fire, cutting the fire direction and checking areas at risk of re-ignition.
Leaders of Hue City Forest Protection Department said that the noteworthy cause of the fires is the fact that people use fire when visiting graves, especially burning votive paper. According to Hue City Forest Protection Department, the locality is maintaining forest fire warnings at level 5, the highest level. This is the time when forest and forest edge areas have a large amount of dry vegetation, while grave visit activities increase during the Vu Lan season.
In An Cuu ward, one of the areas with cemetery areas located near the forest, local authorities continue to maintain checkpoints, strengthen patrols and controls after consecutive fire points appeared.
Functional forces are assigned to stick to the area, coordinate with forest rangers and forest management and protection forces to promptly detect the source of fire.
Fire prevention must start from the source of fire
According to the forest ranger force, when the risk of forest fires is at the highest level, early detection and immediate handling from small fire points is decisive in preventing fire spread.
Forest ranger teams and teams continue to be assigned to stick to the area, focusing on key areas with high fire risk. On-duty posts are maintained, and at the same time coordinate with local authorities and forest owners to strengthen patrols and inspections.
In cemetery areas bordering forests, controlling the source of fire is identified as one of the key tasks. Functional forces propagate and mobilize people to limit burning votive paper at graves, especially when the surrounding area has grass and dry vegetation.
Hue City Forest Protection Department recommends that people who need to burn votive paper should bring it home to perform. In case of burning in the grave area, people must directly watch over, wait for the votive paper to burn out and use water to completely extinguish it before leaving.
An Cuu ward authorities also requested people not to burn votive paper, garbage or vegetation in areas located in or near forests; limit the use of candles and incense in large quantities and prepare water when using fire sources.
On-duty posts are required to strictly maintain duty regimes, ensure communication and be ready to mobilize forces and vehicles when a fire is detected.
In recent days, fires have been controlled promptly, not allowing large fires to spread into the forest. However, when the heat is still continuing and the vegetation has not been improved, the risk of fire is still present.
