Fire in a row of houses along the canal in Ho Chi Minh City

The fire broke out fiercely in the wooden materials storage yard, then spread to the row of houses along the Tau Hu canal, Pham The Hien street, District 8, on the evening of April 1.

At around 7:30 p.m., fire broke out in a 320 m2 wood workshop located along Tau Hu canal, Ward 2 (area between Chu Y bridge and Nguyen Van Cu). Many people tried to use fire extinguishers to put out the fire, but failed.

The fire quickly spread to a row of wooden houses with corrugated iron roofs located close together. Each apartment has an area of 50-150 m2, inside there is a lot of furniture, tables, chairs, and clothes. The fire burned red throughout the canal, accompanied by a towering column of smoke, causing panic in the entire residential area.

Ms. Phuong, who lives next to the scene, said that when the fire was discovered, many people living in the houses rushed out. "The whole neighborhood was in chaos, trying to put out the fire from the moment it started, but the fire spread too quickly," she said.

Fire broke out fiercely in a row of houses along Tau Hu Canal, District 8, on the evening of April 1. Photo: Maika Elan

An, 21 years old, a student at Saigon University, said the fire came from the wooden and furniture making house next door. When discovered, An packed his clothes into his backpack, grabbed the TV and ran away. "The fire was so big, I was standing near something and only had time to grab that thing and run," An said.

Dozens of district 8 fire police were present to try to put out the fire. Many boats and canoes under the canal were also mobilized to spray water to limit the spread of the fire. The Ho Chi Minh City Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department dispatched forces to the scene to assist.

By nearly 9 p.m., the fire was under control. The authorities then sprayed cooling water to completely extinguish the fire. "The fire did not cause any casualties," said Ms. Vu Yen Oanh, Chief of Office of District 8 People's Committee.

According to a report from District 8 Police, the total fire area is nearly 500 m2, including a yard storing wooden materials and two houses. The cause is being investigated.

Tau Hu Canal is about 6 km long, is the boundary between districts 5 and 6 in the north and district 8 in the south. Along the canal, there are tens of thousands of shabby, temporary level 4 houses. The Ho Chi Minh City government has a plan to relocate houses along this canal to beautify the urban area but has not yet implemented it.