Several Kinmen residents asked local authorities yesterday to ban sky lantern launching on the former military frontline island after a fire broke out at a mine zone, with sky lanterns being the suspected cause.
The fire, which started on Thursday night, raged until early yesterday morning, burning off weeds and trees on around 2,000m² of land in the mine zone along the northern coast of Kinmen, the Kinmen County Fire Department said.
Chen Lu-yiang (陳莒揚), head of the Kinhu firefighting division in Kinhu Township (金湖), said the fire occurred at around 10pm and the division sent two vehicles to the scene. However, because the fire was in a barb-wired mine zone, firefighters could only stay on the alert outside.
PHOTO: CNA
They saw unusual light from the fire but heard no sounds of explosion, Chen said.
Since a sky lantern activity was held that night by the nearby Kinsha Township (金沙) office on the northern coastal area as a celebration for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival — one of the major traditional festivals in Taiwan — local residents suspected sky lanterns were the cause of the fire.
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls tomorrow.
Kinsha Township chief Chen Kun-ti (陳昆第) admitted that sky lanterns, which are lit and released into the sky, were the most likely culprit. He apologized to local residents for causing the worrisome accident.
Local villagers complained that it is extremely dangerous to release sky lanterns in an area with mines, urging the authorities to impose a tight ban against the activity.
The Kinmen County Fire Department said its firefighter division had launched a probe to find out what caused the fire.
Releasing lanterns into the sky is a popular traditional practice among Taiwanese. People write down their wishes on the paper lanterns before sending them into the air.
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