Recently, in Miao’er Mountain Village, Jinsu Town, Wutongqiao District, Leshan City, Sichuan Province, flames inexplicably ignited beside a village road and have been burning for two months without extinguishing. As of January 9, the flames were still burning persistently, causing nearby residents to evacuate.
According to Jixiang News, since early November 2024, flames have erupted beside a village road in Miao’er Mountain Village, Jinsu Town, Wutongqiao District, Leshan City. Despite windy and rainy weather as well as attempts to extinguish the flames with yellow soil burial, the fire has not been quenched, attracting many onlookers.
On January 9, at Miao’er Mountain Village, the burning location is right beside the village road, with flames emanating from the joints between the road and the ground. In some areas, the flames reach half a meter in height, and the heat can be felt clearly up close. The village road is flanked by a mountain on one side and a steep slope on the other, where the flames burn on the slope side, flickering with the wind. The edges of the road foundation are charred black, and the surrounding trees, weeds, and trash have been cleared around the flames, with pipes nearby.
Local villagers explained that there are two pipes along the road, one for water and one for gas, originally buried at the roadside but moved onto the road due to the burning. However, the flames currently do not seem to have affected the two pipes in any way.
This area has more than one ignition point. In a vegetable plot beside the village road and on a steep slope, flames continue to flicker, but with relatively small intensity.
A villager at the scene mentioned that on November 5, 2024, they suddenly discovered flames at the roadside and attempted to put them out, but to no avail. Initially, the burning area was larger than it is now, and the flames could even set fire to the houses near the burning area. For safety reasons, two neighboring households have already evacuated.
Residents from Leshan expressed that they learned about the perpetual flames of Miao’er Mountain Village online, sparking their curiosity to witness this unusual phenomenon.
An official from the village committee of Miao’er Mountain Village mentioned that personnel have been arranged to take turns monitoring the burning location.
Sichuan has experienced spontaneous combustion on land or water surfaces before. According to Chuan Guan News, in December 2024, in Zhangjiaba Community, Jiangwancheng Residential Area near Fengbei Street, Tongchuan District, Dazhou City, Sichuan, a large amount of gas emitted from the river water, which could even be ignited.
In January 2025, in Jianwei County, tens of kilometers away from Jinsu Town, villagers accidentally drilled into natural gas while digging a well, which ignited and could not be extinguished before being buried for disposal.