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A look back at worst fires across Vietnam in 2025

VOV.VN - In 2025, a spate of serious fires broke out across the country, spreading to apartment blocks, houses in narrow alleys, eateries and workshops, causing significant loss of life, inflicting profound suffering on families and highlighting persistent gaps in fire prevention and control.

A deadly fire kills eight people at Doc Lap apartment complex in Phu Tho Hoa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City on July 6. The fire breaks out at around 10:30 p.m., beginning on the ground floor of the apartment building and quickly spreading to the first floor.

The fire is caused by a short circuit from self-installed electrical wiring at the ground floor. But the tragedy was compounded by structural and safety shortcomings. Built in 2008, the building lacks a ground-floor emergency exit, while illegally added metal enclosures on apartment balconies prevent residents from escaping.

Six people are found dead and two others are injured in a fire of a recycling workshop in Ao Village, northern Hung Yen province on June 28. The workshop is located in the middle of a field, far from residential areas, and surrounded by plywood manufacturing facilities.

Preliminary findings indicate that the fire is caused by an explosion in a gas pipeline. The incident underscores the dangers posed by recycling workshops operating near residential areas, the critical importance of fire prevention and firefighting, and shortcomings in fire safety management and oversight.

A four-storey house inside Alley 180 of Kim Hoa Street in Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam Ward, Hanoi, catches fire early on October 11, killing all five members of a family. The fire begins on the ground floor as an electric bike and two petrol motorbikes fuel the inferno, sending thick smoke and flames billowing outwards, forcing everyone to retreat.

The fire sounds the alarm about fire prevention and control for people living in houses built in the narrow “tube house” style, with its front entirely sealed by iron bars, leaving no escape route for those inside.

Four members of a family, including a four-month-old baby, are killed when a fire sweeps through their home in Hanoi’s Thuong Tin Commune in the early hours of September 16. The fire occurs at an illegally built temporary structure on agricultural land that stores flammable materials for mechanical business activities, creating an extremely high fire and explosion risk.

The fire serves as a stark warning about the need for stricter management of construction order, particularly temporary and unauthorised structures, and highlights the importance of equipping households and production and business facilities with adequate fire prevention knowledge and equipment.

A fierce fire occurs at an eatery on Tran Hung Dao Street in Cau Ong Lanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, just after 4 a.m. on December 5, killing four people from smoke inhalation, while a young boy is rescued in time. Notably, a solid rolling shutter at the front blocks the only escape route, making rescue efforts and evacuation extremely difficult.

The fire highlights the critical importance of fire prevention knowledge and skills, as well as the need for a secondary escape route in mixed-use homes and businesses to prevent “fire traps” scenarios.

Jealous rage leads to deadly arson attack at a rental home in Thu Duc, HCM City on May 10, claiming the lives of three people.

The fire stands as a costly wake-up call on the need to prevent such tragedies at their roots, combining life-skills education, psychological support and stronger community responsibility for fire prevention and control.

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