A man in Phu Yen Province, south-central Vietnam died due to suffocation while helping battle a forest fire in the area on Sunday, confirmed a local official on Monday.

The deceased was identified as Tran Ngoc Phuong, 44, residing in An Phu Commune in the provincial capital city of Tuy Hoa.

Phuong noticed a forest fire and joined a firefighting team to combat the blaze during his trip to a planted forest to cut down some small eucalyptus trees to reinforce his cowshed on Sunday. 

The blaze engulfed 4,000 square meters of the planted forest in An Phu at 11:44 am and was put out at 12:20 pm the same day, according to Cao Dinh Huy, chairman of the Tuy Hoa administration.

The firefighting team included 17 people, with eight of them being local residents.

During the firefighting operation, fumes from the forest fire made Phuong choke and fall unconscious.

He was rushed to the Phu Yen Provincial General Hospital for emergency treatment, where he was pronounced dead at 4:45 am on Monday.

According to Ngo Duc Hien, chairman of the An Phu administration, Phuong earned his living as a bricklayer and farmer.

Phuong and his wife have two children, but the older son was killed in a traffic accident about two years ago, Hien said.

Local authorities visited and sent their condolences to the bereaved family, saying that they were working to offer further support to his family.

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