Five hikers are the main suspects in a forest fire that, as of press time last night, continued to burn in Yushan National Park.
The fire started on Sunday morning at Dujyuan Campground, near Dashueikushan (大水窟山), the Yushan National Park Administration said, citing reports from forest rangers and hikers in the area.
The campground is accessed by the Batongguan Historic Trail (八通關古道), to the east of Yushan (玉山), or Jade Mountain, which is the nation’s highest peak at 3,952m.
Photo: Liu Pin-chuan, Taipei Times
Based on the reports, officials identified a group of five hikers as the most likely suspects.
The five had reportedly been cooking at the campground when a fire began burning out of control. The forest fire was first reported at about 5am on Sunday.
Efforts to contain the fire continued yesterday, Chiayi Forest District Office deputy director Lee Ting-chung (李定忠) said, adding that the fire had separated into pockets.
The mountainous location required helicopters to make numerous trips to land firefighters at the sites of the fires.
Situated within the high mountains, Yushan National Park covers the administrative districts of Nantou, Chiayi and Hualien counties, and parts of Kaohsiung.
The five hikers allegedly fled pursuit along mountain trails, but police caught up with them at about 3:30pm yesterday, when they reached an entry onto the Batongguang Historic Trail, Lee said.
Prosecutors have been notified of the incident and are to investigate, Lee said, adding that the hikers could be fined for breaches of the National Park Act (國家公園法) and the Forestry Act (森林法).
Article 53 of the Forestry Act stipulates that people who cause a forest fire can be fined up to NT$300,000 or jailed for up to two years.
The fire had as of yesterday burned more than 1.5 hectares, Lee said, adding that firefighters were working diligently to contain it, and helicopters continued to fly in personnel and equipment.
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