According to the authorities, the fire broke out on the morning of June 3 and then spread in two directions; one in the west towards Trang Mountain and the other in the northeast in Cho Vung Mountain. The area where the fire is raging is located in mountainous terrain with steep and rocky slopes; therefore, firefighters, forest rangers and local inhabitants found it difficult to access and extinguish the fire.
As soon as the fire was detected, the Binh Dinh Forest Protection Sub-department mobilized about 100 people to participate in extinguishing the fire on the afternoon of June 3. At 9 pm on the same day, the Central Highlands Mobile Police Regiment under the Ministry of Public Security based in Quy Nhon City of Binh Dinh Province sent over 300 officers who were divided into two teams for continued firefighting.
At the scene, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Anh Quan, Head of Battalion 1, Central Highlands Mobile Police Regiment, said that since the night of June 3, the unit has mobilized 300 policemen with vehicles and equipment to participate in firefighting.
Due to the complex terrain of steep hills and rocky mountains, soldiers were initially scouting around to survey the scene before deploying forces. There are many steep rocky sections where police officers have to use ropes to cross and reach the scene, said Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Anh Quan, adding that to ensure safety, the unit is fighting the fire in teams of 10 policemen with one commander and constantly monitoring the number of troops to report.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Quan, the fire is raging in an area of planted eucalyptus trees and dense bushes, coupled with hot and dry weather and strong winds, making firefighting very difficult.
At the time the fire was raging fiercely, the weather was hot and stuffy with wind and smoke, and the fire was spreading rapidly, so firefighters and policemen had no choice but to fight the fire by creating firebreaks between people and the fires by removing brush and trees. The firebreaks were 50 meters apart. Heartbroken, police could only watch the forest burn for two hours, said Lieutenant Colonel Quan.
At around 1 am on June 4, some 100 mobile policemen controlled the fire on Trang Mountain and continued to extinguish the smoldering embers until 5 am before withdrawing to the assembly point.
Chairman Pham Anh Tuan of the Binh Dinh Provincial People's Committee and Permanent Deputy Chairman Nguyen Tuan Thanh of the Provincial People's Committee arrived at the scene to direct the functional forces to make efforts to control and extinguish the fire completely. Chairman Tuan instructed the leaders of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to stay at the scene to direct effective and safe firefighting measures.
By around 11 am, even when a fire was thoroughly contained, firefighters still went through the process of mopping up, ensuring the fire contained inside the boundary was fully out. Ground crews go in and sweep the area to extinguish or remove burning materials, putting out any still-burning trees, and checking for embers because the weather is dry, something that has been smoldering can reignite the area.
Deputy Director Bui Tan Thanh of the Binh Dinh Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that he came to the mountains where the fire was raging to direct firefighting efforts. According to Mr. Thanh, the forces have now controlled the main fire and are maintaining a team to monitor and extinguish smoldering embers to prevent the fire from reigniting.
He added that the weather is currently very hot and dry; so, reigniting is highly likely to occur. Therefore, a team of 100 people will continue monitoring and extinguishing smoldering embers to prevent the fire from reigniting, Mr. Thanh said.
Director of the Binh Dinh Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Van Phuc disclosed that the fire was set by honey collectors who were going into the forest to set fire. However, the authorities are currently focusing on extinguishing the fire and will then assess the damage and investigate the cause of the fire to handle it in accordance with the present regulations.
Preliminary statistics show that about 18 hectares of planted forest and bushes (mainly eucalyptus) have been burned.
