In Pictures: Hundreds of trees burned down on Lantau as environmentalists urge increased wildfire awareness

A wildfire that broke out on Lantau Island’s Mui Wo nearly two weeks ago burned down hundreds of trees, many of them planted by horticulturist Paul Melsom over the past two decades.This photo, taken on March 31, 2025, shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Mui Wo on March 23, 2025, which engulfed a large area of vegetation. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

“It’s painful to walk amongst all the ashes. Trees you’ve been nurturing for a long time just reduced to nothing,” Melsom told HKFP. He had started planting trees in 2002 as part of a reforestation project in Mui Wo, on the eastern part of outlying Lantau Island.



This photo, taken on March 31, 2025, shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Mui Wo on March 23, 2025, which engulfed a large area of vegetation. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.The blaze on March 23 destroyed many trees aged 15 to 20 years old in an area that was planted with rich vegetation, he said.

Jenny Quinton – also a dedicated tree planter and the founder of Ark Eden, a green education non-profit in Mui Wo – told HKFP that she feared another wildfire could occur during Ching Ming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, on Friday.Metal containers to burn paper offerings at a grave on a hill in Mui Wo on March 31, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

It is the day when people visit their ancestors’ graves, usually in the countryside, bringing food offerings and burning incense, candles, joss paper, and other paper goods.The fire on March 23 occurred near a cemetery.“Ching Ming is the most dangerous time because it goes on [for] a long time,” Quinton said, adding that people tend to visit family graves in different parts of Hong Kong for approximately six weeks before and after the day of the ancestral festival.

This photo, taken on March 31, 2025, shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Mui Wo on March 23, 2025, which engulfed a large area of vegetation. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.Among the over 30 hill fires reported on Tomb-Sweeping Day last year was a blaze on an islet off Lamma Island, which trapped 27 people, according to local media reports.

They were eventually rescued by firefighters.Flowers and offerings were placed at a grave on a hill in Mui Wo on March 31, 2025, near an area razed by a fire. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Incidents often occur when a fire danger warning is in force, meaning the weather poses a high risk of fire. But people also play a major role in wildfires, Melsom said.“All fires in Hong Kong are made by humans.

No fires are made by nature...

by thunder or lightning,” he said.Fire extinguishers on a hill in Mui Wo, March 31, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

“The majority of people are very good, but it takes just that one person to destroy a large area,” Melsom added.‘Worst losses’The Mui Wo fire raged through the hillside for at least a couple of hours. The Fire Services Department (FSD) said it received a report of a fire in Mui Wo, at 1.

24pm on March 23, and firefighters arrived on the scene at 2pm.This photo, taken on March 31, 2025, shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Mui Wo on March 23, 2025, which engulfed a large area of vegetation. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

A helicopter from the Government Flying Service arrived at 2.24pm and dumped water. The fire was put out at 3.

17pm, according to the FSD.At the time, the red fire danger warning was in force, indicating that the risk of a hill fire was extreme.This photo, taken on March 31, 2025, shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Mui Wo on March 23, 2025, which engulfed a large area of vegetation.

Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.The FSD told HKFP that the fire torched an estimated 300 square metres of land.HKFP visited the site on Monday, eight days after the fire.

From afar, a large part of a slope looked brown and charred. Up close, it was barren and covered in ash.Bottles of water left by villagers on a hill in Mui Wo to help put out a fire.

Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.Melsom said it was fortunate that the fire was contained on one slope of a mountain, thanks to the efforts of the firefighters and the Government Flying Service.But it still caused more losses than any previous fires in the area, he said, partly because the blaze happened in a large “closed canopy forest,” where tree crowns touched one another and a fire could easily spread.

This photo, taken on March 31, 2025, shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Mui Wo on March 23, 2025, which engulfed a large area of vegetation. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.He added that the area was home to 85 species of trees, all native to Hong Kong.

“It’s difficult to determine [the losses],” Melsom said, adding that most trees in the affected area would die.While some trees may survive and grow back, they are still severely damaged, he added. “It’s one of my worst losses.

”‘Human negligence’It was unclear what started the fire last month in Mui Wo. However, authorities say that most hill fires in Hong Kong’s countryside are caused by “human negligence.”The Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department (AFCD), which oversees Hong Kong’s country parks, regularly issues statements urging residents who go on tomb sweeping to prevent causing a fire accidentally, advising them to burn paper offerings inside a container.

A banner to remind hikers to prevent hill fires in Mui Wo on March 31, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.It is an offence to burn offerings without taking steps to prevent wildfires in the countryside in Hong Kong.

The maximum penalty is a fine of HK$25,000 and one year behind bars.Separately, using fire outside designated places in country parks could also be fined up to HK$5,000 and jailed for one year.In an emailed reply on Thursday, the AFCD told HKFP that there were 81 prosecutions relating to the two offences, among which 79 were convicted.

Five more cases had been under investigation.This photo, taken on March 31, 2025, shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Mui Wo on March 23, 2025, which engulfed a large area of vegetation. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Quinton called for a stronger presence of police and AFCD officers during the festival, saying it could deter people from using fire recklessly when performing ancestral rites at family graves.The presence of officers “sends a reminder” to people, who will behave more carefully when supervised, Melsom said.The AFCD said authorities will step up patrols in country parks and remind grave sweepers to avoid causing wildfire.

Officers will take immediate legal action if an offence is suspected.A grave on a hill in Mui Wo on March 31, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

But the public needs to be constantly reminded about the hazards of a wildfire, Quinton said, as prosecutions are often hampered by difficulties in collecting evidence.She noticed that wildfire awareness had slipped in recent years and hoped people would pay more attention to the issue. While “you respect traditions.

.. you have to still behave carefully,” she said.

Jenny Quinton, the founder of Ark Eden, on a hill in Mui Wo on March 31, 2025, days after a wildfire engulfed hundreds of trees in the area. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.She pointed to the Pat Sin Leng blaze in 1996, one of the deadliest wildfires in Hong Kong’s history, which killed five and injured 13, many of them student hikers.

Authorities believe that the fire was caused by students smoking.“We don’t want something like that again, because you could die being caught in a fire of big trees,” Quinton said.Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact Us | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | AppsHelp safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our teamOriginal reporting on HKFP is backed by our monthly contributors.

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