At 6:30 h, a fire with explosions broke out on a wooden boat, with a capacity of approximately 40 CV, anchored in the Tan An hamlet canal berth, Quynh Phu commune. This location is about 5 km from Lach Quen port, which was formerly part of Quynh Luu district.

Upon discovering the incident, residents shouted for help and attempted to extinguish the flames with small fire extinguishers, but failed. Nearby boat owners quickly moved their vessels and equipment to another area to prevent the fire from spreading further.

The Fire and Rescue Police Department (Nghe An Provincial Police) dispatched two fire trucks and dozens of personnel to the scene. They used hoses to battle the blaze. The fire intensified and spread to two other boats because the burning vessel's wooden construction and the significant amount of engine oil in its compartments fueled the blaze.

By 8:00 h, the fire was brought under control. "The fire caused no human casualties, but three fishing boats were heavily damaged, causing hundreds of millions dong in losses", the leader of Quynh Phu commune stated.

Many people worked together to push an excavator away from the scene to prevent the fire from spreading. Photo: Hung Le

This incident follows a significant fire that occurred at noon on 29/6, at the boat anchorage in Khe Da, along Thi Nai Lagoon, Quy Nhon Dong ward, Gia Lai province. That blaze destroyed over 10 fishing boats. Many of these were older squid fishing boats, each valued at 150-300 million dong, while the cost to build a new one could approach one billion dong.

Duc Hung