Barely a month into 2017, Vietnam has already experienced its first calamity, as a massive fire in Nha Trang reduced an entire neighborhood to ashes.
According to Zing, around 11pm on January 17, a fire broke out in the middle of a shanty community on one side of the Cai River estuary. Local residents told the news source the fire might have originated from a local household that makes pig feed.
The small fire quickly spread to nearby shacks and in less than an hour, the whole enclave was engulfed in flames. Fortunately, all local residents were able to evacuate in time, but the inferno claimed more than 70 houses and rendered 40 families homeless.
The neighborhood comprises hundreds of poor households who make a living fishing or doing manual labor. Thus, their homes are mostly made out of cheap, highly flammable materials such as plywood and dried coconut leaves.
Moreover, firefighters struggled to access the blaze as the narrow paths leading to the community made it impossible for fire brigades to enter the area. Instead, Zing reports, the rescuers had to use small boats to evacuate residents and get equipment inside the neighborhood.
During a meeting of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee held the next day, local authorities discussed ways to help the victims get back on their feet.
Le Duc Vinh, head of the committee, said during the meeting that the affected households will relocate temporarily to the Khanh Hoa College of Medicine’s dormitory until after Tet, Tuoi Tre reports.
Colonel Nguyen Duc Dung of the Khanh Hoa Fire Department also shared that one of the main reasons for the delay in firefighting efforts, apart from the location, was the lack of water-based equipment such as fireboats. Vietnam’s track record on fire safety hasn’t been stellar over the last few years, especially in the country’s densely populated metropolises, where buildings are constructed in crowded, inaccessible neighborhoods.
Last year, a fire in one of Hanoi’s busiest nightlife districts claimed 13 lives and burned four tube houses to a crisp. The incident raised public concern over local cities’ “banner jungles”, which pose a severe fire hazard.
[Photos via Zing]
