Fire breaks out while workers demolish quake-damaged chimney at Kumamoto paper plant

In Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture, a fire started while workers were cutting away the broken tip of a chimney that had been crippled by the July 28 magnitude-7.1 earthquake. The chimney belongs to a Nippon Paper Industries paper mill, where three of five chimneys were heavily damaged and one 80-meter structure collapsed, killing nine employees in the quake. An employee alerted the municipal fire department, prompting the deployment of 14 fire engines; the blaze produced thick black smoke and burned for more than three hours.

Firefighters managed to keep the situation under control and reported no injuries. Officials have not yet determined what triggered the fire, and the incident adds to the ongoing challenges faced by the region, where thousands remain in evacuation centers after the disaster.