The two departments went to the Wan'an Bridge fire site to guide the disposal work

　　China News Service, August 9. According to the website of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, on the evening of August 6, Wan'an Bridge, a national key cultural relics protection unit located in Changqiao Town, Pingnan County, Fujian Province, caught fire in Northeast Fujian Covered Bridge.

The fire caused damage to the five-hole wooden building in the five-pier six-hole covered bridge, but part of the bridge gallery on the east side and the Changxin Dasheng Temple at the bridge end survived.

On August 7, a joint working group formed by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Fire Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of Emergency Management rushed to the scene to investigate and understand the situation, and worked with the local cultural relics, fire rescue departments and public security organs to investigate the cause of the accident and assess the fire loss and damage to cultural relics. Study the arrangement of follow-up protection work, etc.

An aerial view of Wan'an Bridge, the longest ancient wooden arch bridge in the country, before it was burnt down.

Photo by Mu Mu

　　The Wan'an Bridge fire accident caused serious loss of cultural relics, and the lessons were profound.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Fire Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of Emergency Management are deploying a national cultural relic safety inspection, focusing on the investigation of hidden fire safety hazards in wood-structured cultural relics buildings, strengthening safety measures, improving the level of emergency management, supervising and consolidating the main responsibility for the safety of cultural relics, and improving the implementation. Fire protection facilities and fire inspection system to ensure the safety of cultural relics.

　　Wan'an Bridge, formerly known as Longjiang Gongji Bridge, was built in the Song Dynasty, and the "Longjiang Stele Inscription" was erected during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty.

It was rebuilt twice in the seventh year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (1742) and the twenty-five year of Daoguang's reign (1845).

Before the fire, the four-span wooden arch was rebuilt in 1932, and the two-span wooden arch was rebuilt in 1954.

In May 2006, Wan'an Bridge was announced as the sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection units as part of the covered bridge in northeastern Fujian.