Tram Chim National Park is on fire, a "giant" column of smoke rises hundreds of meters high

On the afternoon of June 11, the fire originated from the wetland habitat conservation area where birds reside and feed (subdivision A1) of Tram Chim National Park, Tam Nong district, Dong Thap province.

According to Thanh Nien newspaper, in the early afternoon of June 11, a leader of the People's Committee of Tam Nong District (Dong Thap) said that functional forces are focusing on firefighting, zoning the area of a large fire that occurred in Tram Chim National Park to limit the spread of fire. Due to the sun and strong winds, the fire spread quickly, and the area of damage has not been counted.

According to initial information, at about 12 o'clock, the fire originated from area A1 of the melaleuca forest with a smoke column hundreds of meters high. At the scene, hazy smoke spilled onto the road accompanied by coal dust obscuring visibility on the provincial road, many cars had to stop or turn around because the smoke limited visibility.

Receiving information about the incident, the authorities in Dong Thap province mobilized many fire prevention and fighting police forces, military forces and on-site forces to actively pump water to extinguish the fire.

Along with that, the functional forces relocated people, especially young children, from the fire area to avoid casualties.

Mr. Phung Cong Thanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tam Nong district, Dong Thap province, said that immediately after the fire, the locality concentrated maximum forces to participate in firefighting. However, due to the wind at this time, the fire extinguishing work is difficult and the locality has reported, thanks to the support of the provincial fire prevention and fighting force.

Nearly 2 p.m., Mr. Nguyen Van Vu Minh, Director of Dong Thap Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the fire prevention and fighting force had zoned the fire and ensured the safety of the adjacent residential area. "The wind was too strong and constantly changed direction, causing a large fire to break out, making it difficult for firefighting," Mr. Minh said.

Previously, Tram Chim National Park also had a large fire, lasting 2 consecutive days (April 17 - 18, 2024). This fire was discovered by forest protection station staff at 3 p.m. on April 17 in subdivision A3. Immediately afterwards, forces and vehicles were mobilized to the scene to arrange equipment to participate in firefighting.

However, due to the prolonged hot weather at that time plus the thick and dry vegetation that was easy to catch fire, the fire quickly spread. By April 18, the firefighting volumes were completely extinguished. After that, the authorities counted that the fire had taken place on a total area of 7.12 hectares, of which, the grassland area was 4.26 hectares; large melaleuca is 0.57 hectares, melaleuca planted in 2017 is 2.29 hectares (burned under the melaleuca canopy).

Tram Chim National Park in Dong Thap province is a wetland, classified in the special-use forest system of Vietnam.

With an area of 7,588 hectares, Tram Chim National Park is divided into many areas, of which area A1 covers an area of over 5,000 hectares and area A2 covers an area of about 1,700 hectares. The rest of the A3, A4, A5 areas are smaller. There are many precious birds here, especially the red-headed crane, an extremely rare bird, named in the Red Book.

In recent years, due to the small number of red-headed cranes, in 2023, Dong Thap province decided to approve the Project on the conservation and development of red-headed cranes in Tram Chim National Park for the period of 2022 - 2032, with a total estimated budget of about 185 billion VND.

The animal ecosystem here is rich with over 100 species of vertebrates, 40 species of fish and 147 species of waterfowl. In which, there are 13 rare species of birds of the world. In terms of plants, recent surveys show that there are 130 species of plants, distributed simply as well as alternating to form characteristic flora.

Tram Chim is a strictly protected area to preserve the typical wetland ecosystem of Dong Thap Muoi region, protect the migratory area for migratory birds, especially cranes; to conserve indigenous species of flora and fauna, rare genetic resources and maintain appropriate conditions for the study of the natural environment and the protection of natural resources.