HANOI, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Several forest fires have broken out and reoccurred in Vietnam's central provinces over the past few weeks, local media reported.
A wildfire in the central province of Ha Tinh has flared up twice in two days, and had not been under control as of Tuesday night, Vietnam News Agency reported on Wednesday, noting that it had spread down the protective forest area and closed to local people's houses.
In the central Nghe An province, a forest fire that raged for several hours was finally extinguished on Tuesday morning. The fire started at 8:00 p.m. local time on Monday evening in a pine forest, then quickly spread over due to hot weather and strong winds. More than 200 households who live near the fire were evacuated, Vietnam News Agency reported.
Over 2,000 people including police officers, soldiers, local authorities and local residents helped to put out the fire. Although the forest fire has been brought under control, firefighters are still at the scene to prevent it from flaring up again.
Nghe An is a locality under high risk of fires, with eight fires recorded in June alone, destroying over 33 hectares of forest, according to the news agency.
On Tuesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc directed relevant ministries, agencies and localities to strengthen forest fire prevention and fighting by implementing urgent measures, noting that hot weather carries considerable risks.
Extreme heatwaves have hit the country since late May this year, putting northern-central provinces at risk of forest fires. According to the country's National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, hot weather is set to scorch northern and northern-central provinces this week with temperatures from 35 to 38 degrees Celsius. Enditem
