New Year fireworks take heavy toll

• Source: Global Times
• [02:02 February 20 2010]
• Comments

A fire burns at the southern city gate of Zhengding, in northern China's Hebei Province, on Thursday night, destroying the ancient building above the gateway. The fire is believed to have been caused by stray fireworks. Photo: CFP

By Yin Hang and Song Shengxia

A blaze caused by festive firecrackers raged through an ancient city gate in northern Hebei Province Thursday, almost destroying the historic building and raising safety concerns over the centuries-old Chinese lunar new year ritual, a year after fireworks consumed a China Central Television (CCTV) tower in Beijing.

Hundreds of injuries and a string of fires have been reported across the country since last Saturday, Chinese New Year's eve, renewing calls for a fireworks ban, one of the main characteristics of the annual lunar festival. Residents of major cities are only allowed to set off fireworks during the Spring Festival period in authorized areas.

The wooden gatehouse in Zhengding County, Hebei, originally built in the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644), was engulfed by fire Thursday night and authorities said fireworks were to blame.

"Our preliminary investigation shows that the fire was caused by fireworks or Kongming lanterns. The fire has been put out. The government is now working on a plan of renovation," Cao Haitao, spokesman of Zhengding county, told the Global Times.

At least 17 fire engines managed to distinguish the fire after nearly four hours, the China News Agency reported. The fire gutted the top floor and the foundation floor was severely damaged.

An official from the Zhengding cultural relics bureau surnamed Wang said that the gate tower has to be rebuilt. Local authorities spent 4 million yuan rebuilding the gate in 2001, the bureau said.

Wang said officials would tighten security measures around cultural relics and keep fireworks 100 meters away.