Many household items owned by a family in Nghia Phuc commune in central Nghe An province have caught fire for no apparent reason, sparking great curiosity in the area, according to local authorities.

It has been reported that the family’s belongings and furniture spontaneously caught fire between 15 and 20 minutes apart and that 31 such fire incidents in total occurred in only three hours on March 31.

According to Thanh, the owner of the house, there was a smell of burning in the kitchen when his family was sleeping at 2 am on Sunday.

When he went downstairs to find the cause, he discovered that a kitchen roll and a plastic can had mysteriously caught fire. 

As of 5 pm the same day, his wife had found a curtain and a bath towel on fire for no known reason after returning home from the market.

Thanh said all fire incidents are similar, as the household items were licked by only small flames.

Local authorities are investigating the possible reasons for such mysterious fires.

Last year, an 11-year old girl in Ho Chi Minh City was believed to have a strange ability to burn things around her as her body had previously generated high heat and burned several items in her house in Tan Binh District.

At that time, the mysterious incident aroused huge curiosity and caught wide media attention, but the exact cause of the strange phenomenon still remains unknown.