Police in the southern province of Dong Nai’s Vinh Cuu District on Thursday arrested a man suspected to have caused a fire at a lubricant recycling plant in a cajuput forest on Wednesday night.

Police in the southern province of Dong Nai’s Vinh Cuu District on Thursday arrested a man suspected to have caused a fire at a lubricant recycling plant in a cajuput forest on Wednesday night. 

The suspect Pham Viet Anh, 39, from Binh Duong Province was allegedly drinking at a friend’s house near the plant in the district’s Thien Tan Commune and asked for money.

When the host refused to give Viet Anh any money, the suspect became angry and threw his lighter into a stack of firewood. 

The flames spread to the cajuput forest and the oil storage facility of the recycling plant, built in an isolated area inside the forest.

The blaze soon grew and was visible from two kilometres away. 

Residents living in the neighbourhood said they also heard several explosions. 

No casualties were reported, and the two men were rescued from the fire.

The huge quantity of engine oil at the plant made it extremely difficult to contain the flames, which began spreading to the adjacent tea tree forest at around 10.30pm despite efforts of firefighters to extinguish the blaze. 

VNS