Two-day hill fire in Tai Po country park put out

A hill fire which blazed for two days in Pat Sin Leng Country Park in Tai Po was finally extinguished at midday yesterday, about 43 hours after it broke out, the Fire Services Department said.

Days of work by 130 firefighters, and more than 100 water drops finally overcame the blaze, which affected 145 hectares of land between Ping Shan Tsai and Shun Yeung Fung in the park.

Firefighters are now investigating the cause of the blaze, which started at about 5pm on Sunday on a hillside in Ping Shan Tsai. The yellow fire-danger warning was in effect amid unseasonably hot temperatures on Sunday, indicating a high risk of fire.

The fire front stretched as long as 800 metres on Monday night, a government spokeswoman said.

But very few trees were destroyed, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department staff said after a site visit yesterday. The blackened area had mostly been covered with grass and shrubs.