Forest fires have ravaged central region in the past three days

Ha Tinh province has been the most affected. More than 2,000 personnel including policemen, forest rangers, and army personnel have worked together to fight the fire that has engulfed Hong Linh mountain over the past 3 days. By noon on Sunday, the fire was under control but efforts to extinguish local blazes continue and hundreds of people are standing by in case of a recurrence.

After more than 20 hours, Quang Binh province has managed to extinguish a forest fire in Bo Trach district. More than 500 people were mobilized. Le Minh Ngan, Vice Chairman of the Quang Binh Provincial People’s Committee, said: "We worked with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to expand communications on strengthening forest management to communes with forests. It’s more useful to prevent the fire than to control it. We have instructed communes to strengthen forces, means and responsibility to prevent forest fires.”

In Da Nang, hundreds of soldiers were mobilized to extinguish a forest fire near Dai La village. In Phu Yen province, 600 people managed to extinguish a fire in Hoa Phu and Hoa My Tay commune.

Hot and prolonged dry weather is forecast for the region throughout this week and many forests are at high risk of fires. Adequate forces, facilities, supplies, funding, and 24/7 monitoring are ordered during the dry season to detect fires and to extinguish forest fires quickly before they spread. Localities have been asked to be ready to evacuate people from dangerous areas when necessary.