Wildfires have been taking place in Taiwan which usually has a subtropical climate. That’s because there’s been little rain this year especially in central and southern Taiwan. Not one but two forest fires broke out in central Taiwan recently.
A wildfire broke out on a mountain in central Taiwan’s Nantou County. It began around the evening of April 12. Because it was already dark, firefighters could only work at the foot of the mountain to try and control the fire.
Firefighters couldn’t send water to the site until daybreak. Since the nearest body of water was Sun Moon Lake, helicopters could only haul water from the lake to put out the fire. That’s despite the fact that the famous lake has a very low water level due to lack of rain in the area for months. A total of 18 trips were made to carry 36 tons of water to pour on the smoldering fire. A school nearby was even forced to close the next day because of the disaster.
While that fire was blazing, another wildfire started on a mountain in another Nantou village about the same time. The fire was put out for a time, but then broke out again at midnight for more than ten hours before it was finally extinguished. The fire department believes that the cause of the fires was the dry weather.