A fire broke out on the evening of 26 September at a construction site on Leyeh Street in Taipei's Da'an District, sending a thick plume of smoke across the city's southern districts and prompting air-quality guidance for residents in six districts spanning Taipei and New Taipei.
Mayor Chiang Wan-an said the fire was under control. The site is an urban renewal project rather than an occupied residential building, which meant no residents had to be evacuated from homes inside the affected block. The smoke, however, did not stay on the site.
Where the smoke went
Authorities listed Da'an, Wenshan, Zhongzheng and Xinyi in Taipei, along with Yonghe and Zhonghe across the river in New Taipei, as areas where smoke could be noticeable through the evening and into the night.
The geography explains the spread. Leyeh Street sits in the southeastern corner of Da'an, roughly where the district meets Wenshan and not far from the river corridor that carries air toward Yonghe and Zhonghe. With light evening winds, smoke that would normally rise and disperse instead drifted at rooftop level across densely built neighbourhoods on both banks.
What residents were told
People in the affected districts were advised to close windows, wear masks if they went outdoors, and keep outdoor exercise short. Children, older residents and anyone with heart or lung conditions were told to stay inside where possible. The smell of smoke is not the same thing as a measured health risk, but it is the cue most residents actually have.
Who is watching the air
Environment officials said monitoring was continuing, with readings from fixed air-quality stations used to judge whether the plume had thinned enough to lift the guidance. Taiwan's monitoring network reports particulate matter in near real time, so the numbers — not the smell — will determine when the advisory ends.
The fire itself falls to the Taipei City Fire Department, which will investigate the cause. Construction-site safety sits with the city's construction and labour inspection authorities; air quality is the environment ministry's remit, working alongside the Taipei City environmental protection bureau. Three agencies, three separate questions: what started it, whether the site was compliant, and what is in the air.
Why urban renewal sites burn differently
Taipei's urban renewal projects replace older low-rise blocks with taller buildings, and the sites in between are crowded with temporary power lines, tarps, solvents, insulation and stored materials. Fires at such sites are usually confined to the site itself — there are no residents inside to evacuate — but they can burn hot and dirty, producing more smoke per square metre than a finished building would.
That combination is what residents in six districts experienced on Saturday evening: a fire that was contained, and air that was not.
Updates on air-quality readings and the fire investigation are expected from city and environment authorities. Residents in the six listed districts should keep windows closed until monitoring shows the plume has cleared.