Large hill fire burns in Hong Kong for more than 8 hours
- Firefighters continue to battle the blaze, which has engulfed a hillside near Yeung Ka Tsuen in Yuen Long, into the night
- Government helicopter had earlier been deployed to try to douse flames
A large hill fire was raging in northwestern Hong Kong on Friday night as efforts to water bomb the blaze with a government helicopter failed to douse the flames.
Firefighters continued to battle the blaze, which had engulfed a hillside near Yeung Ka Tsuen in Yuen Long, in the northwestern New Territories, for more than eight hours.
The fire, which broke out at about 3pm., had not been extinguished by 11pm.
But because the location was not near a residential area no evacuation was needed, the Fire Services Department said.
The hill fire was burning in at least two areas covering stretches of land 500 metres (1,600 feet) wide and 1.2km (0.7 miles) long, a department spokesman said.
The Government Flying Service helicopter left the scene when night fell.
