Rescue forces have stamped out the last flames of a forest fire that broke out a week earlier at a height of 2,400 meters on the western side of Hoang Lien Mountain in the northern province of Lao Cai.
A fire in Lao Cai Province’s Hoang Lien National Park has burnt 1,700 hectares of the park. (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
The fire that broke out in the Hoang Lien National Park was finally extinguished on Monday, February 15, but not before at least 1,700 hectares were destroyed.
The destroyed area – 1,000 hectares in Ban Ho and Ta Van villages and 700ha in the area between Lao Cai and Lai Chau provinces – were mainly alang grass and replanted forests, local authorities said.
The area of primary forests destroyed was small, said the forest fire control steering committee of the neighboring Lai Chau province.
The Lao Cai Province People’s Committee has asked the central government for funds to address the fire’s consequences, formulate better forest protection plans and implement all measures to prevent and fight fires at the Hoang Lien National Park.
The committee has ordered a temporary halt to visits by tourists to the National Park because more dry weather has been forecast for the area.
As of now, the situation is under control and all troops have been withdrawn except for 100 soldiers from the Military Zone 2 deployed to keep watch.
The forest fire is being investigated to establish how it broke out, local authorities said.
