Fire fighters spray water to extinguish the fire that broke out in a residential area at the intersection of Khuất Duy Tiến and Nguyễn Trãi in Thanh Xuân District on September 23. —VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Many fires in Hà Nội are caused by residents burning garbage in residential areas, a practice that threatens people's health and property, warned local authorities.

At 9am on September 23, a fire broke out in a residential area at the intersection of Khuất Duy Tiến and Nguyễn Trãi in Thanh Xuân District. Thanh Xuân police said that the cause was related to local people setting fire to a pile of rubbish.

Although the fire was promptly extinguished by fire fighters, local authorities and residents were concerned that such fires could spread to neighbouring buildings or houses.

Moreover, the act of burning garbage in residential areas could cause consequences, affecting the safety of people.

On social networks, pictures of the fire with a series of comments caused confusion among the public, affecting people's confidence in the fire prevention and fighting capabilities of the city.

According to lawyer Nguyễn Thế Truyền, Thiên Thanh Law Office, Vietnamese law stipulated that the act of arbitrarily burning waste in residential areas was a violation of the law and would warrant a fine from VNĐ1 million to VNĐ2 million.

However, reality shows that some individuals or groups still violate the regulations, and these polluting behaviours have not been handled strictly.

Therefore, the city's authorities should continue to promote propaganda to prevent spontaneous burning of garbage, which causes many dangers, especially fire and explosion.

Every citizen needs to raise awareness; burning garbage and rice straw can spread to residential areas, causing serious consequences affecting people's property and lives.

Nguyễn Văn Đức, Deputy General Director of Hà Nội Environment Company, said garbage burning by residents creates smoke which flows into surrounding houses, affecting people's life.

“Emissions generated from burning garbage in residential areas also pollute the air environment,” said Đức.

“Therefore, first of all, people need to be aware of eradicating outdated habits, contributing to protecting the environment they live in. In addition, people need to comply with the regulations to put the garbage out on time and at the right place for collection vehicles to ensure the living environment.”

In the suburban districts of Hà Nội, the burning of garbage and rice straw was common and on a larger scale. Many people even bring straw to the road to burn it, causing the smoke to go straight into the eyes and noses of passersby, which is very dangerous.

At Đa Tốn Commune of Gia Lâm District, and Tiền Phong Commune of Mê Linh District, there were many vacant lots where people often dump garbage and plastic there and then burn it. In the countryside, many people think this is a normal action. — VNS