Mountain fire burns for over 12 hours in Tai O

A mountain fire erupted in Tai O on Sunday and continued burning for more than 12 hours into Monday, following a separate 17-hour hill fire in Yuen Long.

The fire started around 4.51 pm yesterday (Jan 12), with two fire lines stretching up to 100 meters as thick smoke filled the air. The blaze persisted throughout the night, with firefighters battling the flames continuously.   

By this morning, firefighters reported that the two fire lines had been reduced to 1 meter by 1 meter each.

The Government Flying Service was also dispatched to conduct water drops, and no injuries have been reported so far.

The Hong Kong Observatory had issued a Red Fire Danger Warning, indicating a high risk of fires due to very dry conditions brought by a winter monsoon affecting the Guangdong coast.

Additionally, the weather watchdog noted that the relative humidity at Shek Kong dropped to 12 percent, marking it as the second lowest record for January since 1997.